Macron hails 'convergence of views' with Scholz
First meeting as leaders in Paris on Friday
10 December, 15:33Addressing Scholz as "dear Olaf" and with the informal "tu" pronoun in French, Macron said he had seen "a convergence of views, a desire to have our countries work together, and a firm and determined belief in Europe, which I knew already, which we will need in the months and years ahead." Scholz, a centrist Social Democrat, heads a disparate new coalition of ecologist Greens and business-friendly Free Democrats, but their joint commitment to strengthening Europe's "strategic sovereignty" has raised hopes in Paris. Macron laid out an ambitious agenda Thursday for a "Europe that is powerful in the world" during France's time as the rotating president of the 27-member Council of the European Union in the first half of next year. (ANSA-AFP).