Berlin, 15.05.17: Only one day after his official inauguration in Paris, the new French President Emmanuel Macron visited the Chancellor.
The 39-year-old President's inaugural visit began with a welcome with military honours in the courtyard of the Federal Chancellery.
It is a great honour that the new President's first trip took him to Germany, said Angela Merkel, thanking her guest for his early trip to Berlin.
The first point on the agenda, said the Chancellor, is Europe: the Posting of Workers Directive, the new European asylum system and trade policy.
Securing jobs is of the greatest possible importance for Germany, said the Chancellor, and "perhaps even more so" for France.
A second main point on the agenda was bilateral relations. The two leaders agreed to revitalise direct relations. A Franco-German Council of Ministers is to be held in July.
A third important point is cooperation on new EU projects, in particular on how to strengthen the existing EU, with a special focus on the eurozone, and make it more resilient to crises.
Angela Merkel considers that a common European defence and foreign policy is also important.
At critical times for the European Union in particular it is important to take the right decisions together, said the Chancellor, and stressed that she is very much aware of this special responsibility.