(Bloomberg) -- Germany and France are moving closer on the details of reforming the euro region and may be able to agree on concrete measures by the end of this month, according to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Merkel, who in recent days has been laying out her response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposals to strengthen the single currency area, told a forum on Europe in Berlin that Germany and France “will move toward compromise with each other on the issue of euro reform.”
She reiterated her backing for a European Monetary Fund that could give loans to states hit by external shocks. She also stressed that one of the remaining differences between Germany and France is over the size of a proposed common budget to help weaker nations, which she said could be “organized on an inter-governmental basis.”
In an interview with a German newspaper at the weekend, Merkel outlined her plans for an investment budget for struggling euro nations “in the low double-digit billions of euros” but said that it remained to be decided whether it would be part of the EU or outside the bloc’s treaty structure.
Euro reform efforts are also focusing on completing the banking union, with the establishment of a backstop for a fund to help wind down failed banks.