German Chancellor¹ Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy hold their first meeting of the year in Berlin on Monday.

德国总理默克尔与法国总统萨科奇周一在柏林进行了新年首次会谈。

The French and German leaders together set the agenda for the eurozone
They are Europe's indispensable（不可缺少的） couple. They see each other at least every ten days. Next week they are in Rome, then Davos and then Brussels by the end of the month.

They are the eurozone's crisis managers. The other nations that use the single currency have become onlookers², summoned to summits to give their signatures to the latest Franco-German initiative. Never have smaller nations in the EU had less influence.

The relationship between Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy is much improved. They have chosen the face of unity³ in place of the finger-pointing and arguments and briefings against each other.

The regular meetings and smiles and embraces have led to a blending of the two captured by the name Merkozy.

In truth, fundamental differences remain.

Tax hurdle⁴

The French still believe that the only answer to the crisis lies in the European Central Bank becoming the lender of last resort.

The Germans do not. They fear that this would encourage the reckless（鲁莽的） spending that caused the crisis.

The agreement between the two leaders is for the ECB to be allowed to get on with its job without them commenting on it.

That does not prevent President Sarkozy - as he did last week - still calling on "all European institutions" to play their part. A clear reference to the ECB.

Both leaders support a tax on financial transactions. They will discuss it again in Berlin.

The French president - almost perpetually（永恒地） impatient - is prepared to go it alone.

"We won't wait for others to agree to put it in place, we'll do it because we believe in it," he said last week.

The Germans are more cautious. They would prefer it to be on an EU basis. Only if that proved impossible would they settle for a tax operated by just the 17 eurozone countries.

The tax is a potential source of conflict  with the UK. Britain will oppose it unless it is agreed on a global basis and supported by the G20.

Otherwise, it believes, the tax would just drive business away from the City of London.