Reuters: Merkel urges more EU structural reforms

08 June 2013

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged European Union countries to carry out further structural reforms, saying Germany could only remain in good shape if the European economy recovers.

Merkel stated in a video podcast that it was very much in Germany's interest to do everything it can to ensure other states implement structural reforms, that budgets are made solid and that economic activity is stimulated in this way. She praised progress made by the region so far, saying EU states had already implemented a lot of structural reforms and that the continent had generally improved.

Europe's economic health is crucial to Germany, the continent's largest economy. It sends some 40 per cent of its exports to the 17-nation eurozone and 60 per cent to the wider 27-member European Union.

Merkel also urged the EU to "campaign intensively" for a free trade agreement between the United States and Europe in a bid to speed up bilateral commerce.

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