French president Nicholas Sarkozy stressed over the weekend he would not accept an European Union-Mercosur trade agreement that could mean a loss of income for European farmers.
An attempted-rape charge against IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn may put an end to his prospects of running in the French presidential election even as his party called for calm and unity until the claims have been verified.
G20 leaders have moved towards agreeing that China's currency should have a wider role in global finance. The G20 is to study whether to include the Chinese Yuan within the basket of currencies that make up the IMF Special Drawing Right.
China hosts Wednesday a Group 20 leaders meeting, originally scheduled to address the international monetary system, most probably criticism of the US Federal Reserve for flooding the world with money, but the latest world events, Japan, Libya and Europe’s debt crisis are bound to change the emphasis of the agenda.
France's economy minister Tuesday urged IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn to stay at the global lender, as French conservatives sought to impede his potential bid for the French presidency next year.
Brazil and Argentina came out Friday against a French proposal to be put to the G20 to regulate commodity prices whose recent rises are blamed for a spike in food costs.
European leaders and business people met on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. President Sarkozy said both he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were firm in their commitment to the European single currency.
After years of political division, Europe's two biggest military powers have come together to sign a historic defence-sharing agreement.
European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet faced down pressure for new moves to shore up the weakest Eurozone countries, but kept options open even as he said Spain and Portugal were “not Greece”.
After the European Commission proposed the resumption of negotiations with Mercosur, France released a warning message to the European Commission and assured that—if the talks are reactivated—both French and European agriculture would be in danger of a potential damage.