France and Germany canceled a second top-level meeting on Tuesday, fueling suggestions of a diplomatic spat over economic issues and French plans for a new Mediterranean Union that would exclude Berlin.
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and her German counterpart Peer Steinbrueck canceled a twice-yearly meeting planned for Tuesday in Paris with the heads of both central banks, with Lagarde's personnel citing scheduling reasons.
Both Paris and Berlin gave the same reason for the decision last week to postpone a summit next week between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, now pushed back to June 9.
Sarkozy's office has denied any link to disagreements over his plans for a Mediterranean Union, stressing that both leaders would still meet for working talks on Monday in Hannover, Germany.
The German media jumped on the alleged chill between two traditionally staunch allies.
"The French government no longer finds time for its German partner," the financial newspaper Handelsblatt wrote.
For its part, German newspaper Die Welt claimed the talks were called off after Merkel refused to write a joint op-ed piece with Sarkozy about the Mediterranean Union, a project Berlin fears could divide the EU.
Paris and Berlin are also at odds on economic issues; namely the role of the European Central Bank and France's deficit.
While Merkel backs the bank's independence which she deems "essential," Sarkozy has criticized the disadvantages of the bank's strong-euro policy.
Steinbrueck has called on Paris to respect an engagement to balance its budget by 2010.
French Foreign Ministry official Pascale Andreani admitted on Tuesday that the decision to push back the Sarkozy-Merkel summit had sparked "controversy."
She said the two leaders would "talk, in full confidence, of all subjects" on Monday, adding that "the Franco-German relationship is the pillar of what is happening in the European Union, partly because we are not always in agreement about everything."
But Andreani also repeated that the Mediterranean Union would be "a priority for our presidency."
Sarkozy's proposal for the union, grouping countries of the Mediterranean rim, is to be set in motion at a Paris summit in July, when France takes over the rotating presidency of the EU.
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