Bilateral Meeting

"It is our common wish ... that we get more transparency in financial markets," Chancellor Angela Merkel said after a regular informal meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a government guest house north of Berlin.

She said that, along with fair trade and fair competition, that "must be a common European concern."

The two leaders issued a joint statement in which they stressed that "open markets are the guarantor of Europe's prosperity and development."

Merkel noted that Germany had made market transparency a key theme both during its European Union presidency in the first six months of the year and during its year-long presidency of the Group of Eight (G8). "We have always had backing from the French side on this," she added.

The chancellor called for a coordinated European approach. "We must have as coherent an approach as possible," she said, and added that the issue was not "arbitrary regulation but how Europe can create conditions that others have."

Leaders target transparency and speculators

Taking the fight to the speculators, Sarkozy stated that he was "not against competition, but against speculation." The French president added, "I am for the market economy, I am for globalization, but I am not for speculation."

Europe could not allow itself to be the venue "where the rest of the world comes to help itself," Sarkozy continued, stressing that his aim was "not protectionism, but reciprocity" with countries like the United States and China.

Referring to the failure of international rating agencies to spot the looming US sub-prime mortgage crisis, Merkel said the German government had been unable to explain to the population how nobody knew beforehand and why ordinary people were now facing the consequences.

Other issues discussed by the two leaders included the energy sector in Europe and a proposed "council of wise men" which would debate the future of the EU in the medium term. Merkel said it had not yet been decided who would sit on the council, and Sarkozy said its aims were to sketch out how Europe should evolve over the next 30 years.

Nuclear power partnership apparently on course

On energy, Sarkozy urged Germany to follow France's example of relying strongly on nuclear power for its energy needs. "I would like France and Germany to have similar ambitions," Sarkozy said

Atomic power meets about 40 percent of France's energy needs, whereas Germany plans to phase out nuclear energy gradually and mothball the last of its 17 reactors by about 2020.

Merkel responded by saying that she supported the continuation of the nuclear power joint venture between German industrial group Siemens and French nuclear group Areva NP. "I am of course interested in a deeper German-French cooperation," she said.

Sarkozy said, "We will strengthen our cooperation further," adding that "nuclear energy is the power of the future ... France is willing to work in concert with companies and Siemens is already present."

No mention of French plans for Siemens

It was reported in July that Sarkozy planned to use an option to buy out Siemens's 34 percent stake in the nuclear power joint venture with state-controlled Areva and forge a major national energy company. The French government declined to comment at the time.