Paris-Berlin Relations Turn Sour

Only a week after Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel called off a scheduled meeting, France and Germany's finance ministers canceled their own summit yesterday, reports AFP. While nobody wants to say that the leaders of Europe's two largest countries are getting testy with each other, disagreements over economic policy and the EU's role have led to markedly tense relations.

While predecessors Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schröder were chummy, Sarkozy and Merkel are not getting along. One major issue is Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union, the so-called "Club Med" that the excluded Germany says will divide Europe. The new alliance is set to launch in July, but Merkel has only been asked to attend an after-party. "Germany is only invited for dessert," said one observer.