Sarkozy, Merkel Find Compromise Over Mediterranean Union Spat - by Bryan Parkin and Francois De Beaupuy
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel said they resolved a policy spat over a plan to set up a Mediterranean Union that strained a traditional show of Franco-German unity ahead of a European Union summit. Sarkozy and Merkel said after talks late yesterday in Hannover, Germany, that a French initiative to improve cooperation between the north and south Mediterranean seaboards would not be an exclusive club but open to all 27 states of the EU. Merkel has criticized Sarkozy's initiative, indicating that exclusivity may hurt Franco-German ties in the 27-state trade bloc.
``We've made efforts to reach out toward each other - that's the rule of the game on European matters,'' Sarkozy told reporters after the 90-minute talks with the German leader. ``In coming days, you will see that we found a compromise on the Mediterranean Union that excludes nobody.''
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