French, German leaders meet in Paris amid diverging views

By SYLVIE CORBET
The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting in Paris with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz amid divergences between the two neighbors and key European Union allies over EU strategy, defense and economic policies. Macron and Scholz were having a working lunch at the Elysee presidential palace Wednesday. Initially, a French-German joint Cabinet meeting was scheduled that day, but it has been postponed for January, both Paris and Berlin arguing they still have work to reach consensus on some bilateral issues. French-German divergences are not unusual as both countries, which are the eurozone’s biggest economies, are used to having different stances on a series of topics, including defense and energy.