UPDATE - Germany urges ‘new European economic momentum’ amid widening growth gap with US, China

ADDITIONAL QUOTES OF GERMAN CHANCELLOR ON STATE OF EUROPEAN ECONOMY

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday called for a “new European economic momentum” amid a widening growth gap with the US and China.

“Europe's economy needs to gain new momentum, and we want to work together to make that happen. Since the early 2000s, the growth gap between the European Union and the US and China has been widening,” Merz said during a press briefing with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

“This is also detrimental to our ability to act as a European Union and to our European sovereignty. That is why Italy and Germany want to generate new momentum here in Europe,” he added.

Merz also pointed to European plans to “seriously” combat bureaucratic red tape.

“When we meet with other European partners in Belgium on Feb. 12, we want to seriously and genuinely reduce bureaucracy in Europe so that we can become more competitive. We want an ambitious European trade policy. The agreement between the European Union and the Mercosur countries was an important breakthrough,” he said.

The chancellor added there will be additional trade agreements with other countries, including India, Australia and ASEAN states.

- US-led Board of Peace

Meanwhile, Germany and Italy said on Friday that they would be ready to join the US-led Board of Peace initiative, but cited constitutional problems for such a move.

“Italy's position is as follows. We are available. We are interested in this initiative. I also think Germany can play an important role here, because it concerns the stabilization of the Middle East,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told the press briefing.

“The work that can lead to a consolidation of this ceasefire and towards the proposal of a two-state solution—I think all of that requires our involvement. So we are ready, but of course, there are objective problems. As the initiative is currently structured, there are problems with our Constitution. It would be unconstitutional for us to get involved,” she added.

Meloni’s statements on the issue were also echoed by the German chancellor. “A few weeks ago, I told President Trump that I would personally be willing to join a Peace Board if it were a body that, as originally planned, would accompany the peace process in Gaza, which unfortunately has still not begun,” Merz said.

“As the Peace Board is currently structured, we cannot accept the governance structures alone for constitutional reasons in Germany, but we are, of course, willing to try other forms, new forms of cooperation with the United States of America, when it comes to finding new formats that bring us closer to peace in different regions of the world,” he added.

The board, launched in Davos on Thursday, was originally conceived to oversee the ceasefire and reconstruction of Gaza, where a ceasefire was reached in October as part of a 20-point plan by Trump, but its charter expands its mandate to peace-building in all areas affected by or at risk of conflict.