BERLIN – The French and German economy ministers have proposed setting up a 10 billion euro ($10.65 billion) fund to pay for tighter security, external border controls and care of refugees, French minister Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.
Speaking in Berlin, Macron said that he and his counterpart Sigmar Gabriel had written to French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggesting the creation of the fund, which other European countries could join.
He said a joint response would avert the risk of France and Germany pursuing different agendas and weakening Europe.
“The risk is that our people, our political parties, our governments decide to treat this problem separately or even work against each other,” Macron said, noting that France was preoccupied with security after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris and Germany with the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Macron said that he and Gabriel would present a more detailed text by mid-December that would build on proposals they made in June regarding closer integration of the euro zone.
(Reporting by Reinhard Becker; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Noah Barkin)