Angela and François pick up the pieces. It remains to convince the others

(B2) At the Elysée, this evening, Angela Merkel and François Hollande met for an evening of work. On the menu: meeting + dinner. Objective: to display an almost common message in public. And privately refine the different positions to avoid the repetition of previous meetings where the "tough" clan prevailed. Because the essential for the Franco-German couple is there: to reduce its differences, to reduce the field of extremes in Europe.

The speeches of the two leaders are very close with some nuances, however, if you read them closely.

1. “We take note of the result and we respect the vote of the Greeks, because Europe is democracy. “(Fr. Hollande) “We respect this decision. The referendum is the vote of a democratic and sovereign country and we must now live with this decision. (A. Merkel)

1bis. “We have also heard the message of all the Greek democratic parties which met today and which together reaffirmed their desire for their country to remain in the euro zone. “(Fr. Holland)

2. “The door is open to discussions” (Fr. Hollande / A. Merkel)

3. “At the same time, the preconditions for entering into new negotiations on a concrete program of the European Stability Mechanism have not yet been met. (A. Merkel)

4. “It is now up to the government of Alexis TSIPRAS to make serious, credible proposals so that this desire to remain in the euro zone can be translated into a program that gives duration. (Fr. Holland). “Completely specific proposals from the Greek Prime Minister, a program that will also allow Greece to regain prosperity. (A. Merkel)

5. “Time is running out and there is urgency; urgency for Greece, urgency for Europe” (Fr. Hollande). “It is urgent to have this type of proposal so that we can find a way out of the situation as it is today. (A. Merkel).

6. The role of the Summit is essential. “It will be up to the Heads of State and Government to define a position based on the proposals that will be made by Greece. It is also a question of visibility, credibility and I would even say dignity. (Fr. Hollande) “We are also going to see what the reaction of the 18 other countries will be, that too is democracy, we have shared sovereignty, we are 18 to have the same currency, so everyone must be responsible and show solidarity. (A. Merkel)

7. “Europe is faced with this responsibility. Europe is not simply an economic, monetary and financial construction. Europe is a whole based on values, principles, on a conception; a conception of the world, not just of our continent, a conception based on freedom, on openness, also on respect. (Fr. Holland)

8. “In this Europe, there is room for solidarity; solidarity is everywhere in Europe and it must be even more so; but there is also responsibility. It is this balance between responsibility and solidarity that must be our guideline for the days to come. (Fr. Hollande) Solidarity, we have already shown a lot of solidarity with Greece and the last proposal that was made was very generous; and on the other hand, Europe can only be coherent and remain united today at a time when the challenges in terms of terrorism or refugees are all the more important, each country must also assume own responsibility. (A. Merkel)

Comment: The fate of Greece in the euro zone mentioned several times by President Hollande is not expressly mentioned by Angela Merkel. On the contrary, she made a strange sentence: "we are 18 to have the same currency" (a slip or is it an error in the transcript transmitted by the Elysée),

(NGV)