BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany and France on Monday moved to mend fences on policy splits, agreeing the European Union needs economic governance by all 27 member states, not just euro zone nations, as Paris had previously proposed.

Meeting in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed their desire to speak with one voice in Europe, pledging to tighten policy coordination and improve budget discipline to contain an ongoing debt crisis.

BERLIN, June 11 (Reuters) – Roughly 1.5 billion euros in
lost revenues could be recovered in Germany from 20,000 tax
evaders who have so far come clean about their Swiss bank
accounts, the DSTG financial authorities trade union said.

This week the German government said it and the state of
Lower Saxony had bought a second CD of stolen Swiss bank data
believed to be rich in detail about undisclosed holdings.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Turkey and Brazil made a “big mistake” by voting against the latest round of U.N. sanctions against Iran since this may have encouraged Tehran to think it was not isolated, a senior German legislator said on Thursday.

Ruprecht Polenz, who chairs the foreign policy committee in the Bundestag (lower house), told Reuters the “no” votes by Brazil and Turkey had blunted the impact of a fourth round of sanctions passed by the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday.

BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Commission welcomed German and French calls for speedy measures to clamp down on speculators in government debt on Wednesday, though the likelihood of a bloc-wide ban still appears remote.

In a display of solidarity that may ease concerns over recent policy splits between the euro zone’s top two economies, Berlin and Paris urged the Commission to consider an EU-wide ban on short selling of shares and sovereign bonds.

BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Commission welcomed German and French calls for new measures to clamp down on speculators in government debt on Wednesday but the likelihood of a bloc-wide ban still appears remote.

Berlin and Paris urged the Commission to consider an EU-wide ban on short selling of shares and sovereign bonds in a display of solidarity that may ease concerns over recent Franco-German policy splits.

BERLIN, June 7 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
coalition agreed a package of budget cuts and taxes on Monday to
bring the structural deficit of Europe’s biggest economy within
EU limits by 2013 and revive her political fortunes.

The measures, touted as Germany’s biggest austerity drive
since World War Two, should save 11.1 billion euros ($13.25
billion) next year and lower a deficit set to exceed 5 percent
of gross domestic product this year.

BERLIN, June 1 (Reuters) – A key ally of German Chancellor
Angela Merkel raised doubts about the future of her government
at the weekend, underlining tension in the ruling coalition,
which has been hit by an electoral setback and policy disputes.

Europe’s largest economy suffered its worst recession since
World War Two in 2009, though it has now grown for four straight
quarters, and forward-looking indicators suggest the
manufacturing sector is recovering fast from the global slump.

BERLIN, May 29 (Reuters) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang
Schaeuble hinted that taxes may have to rise to consolidate
Germany’s finances one day after coalition sources said the
government may scrap a discounted sales tax on some products.

“The real task lies in saving as much on spending as
possible,” Schaeuble told newspaper Bild am Sonntag, in remarks
released on Saturday, one day before the paper is published.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Remarks by Germany’s president justifying military action to back the country’s commercial interests have sparked accusations of “gunboat diplomacy”, putting the government on the defensive.

Germany’s defence minister on Friday distanced himself from the comments by President Horst Koehler, a former head of the International Monetary Fund, who was asked in a weekend radio interview how he viewed the country’s deployment in Afghanistan.

BERLIN (Reuters) – A deal struck by a German private security firm with a Somali politician to provide soldiers for hire has raised uncomfortable questions about whether Germany can send mercenaries into combat 65 years after World War Two.

The firm’s managing director said it would only send its staff — which include former German soldiers — to Somalia once Abdinur Ahmed Darman, a self-styled president who media describe as a warlord, had been recognised by the United Nations.