French Socialists call for tougher stance on Merkel

France's ruling Socialist Party is pressing President Francois Hollande to toughen his stance towards a German counterpart it describes as "self-centered", arguing that Chancellor Angela Merkel's pro-austerity policies are hurting Europe.
The message - spelled out in a 21-page document to be presented at a party brainstorming conference in June - added to growing criticism of Berlin from across the Rhine after Socialist National Assembly speaker Claude Bartolone this week raised the prospect of a "confrontation" with Merkel.
The rhetoric follows a French appeal for an extra year to bring its public deficit below 3 percent of economic output in line with European targets, as rising unemployment keeps Europe's no. 2 economy in the doldrums.
"The friendship between France and Germany is not a friendship between France and the European policy of Chancellor Merkel," read the document, which has been endorsed by the Socialist Party but could still be tweaked before its June meeting on Europe.
Criticizing current European policies as an "unholy alliance between the Thatcherite tone" of Britain's prime minister and the "self-centered instransigence" of Chancellor Merkel, the document urges France to speak out against austerity.
A source in Hollande's office said the document represented only the party, but did not dispute its central message.
"There is a line in the text saying the friendship between France and Germany does not only mean Mrs Merkel's policies," the source said. "Friendship lets us criticize her policies, that's what one needs to understand from this document".
Cooperation between France and Germany has long provided the main motor for decision making in the European Union, but a debt crisis has strained those ties in the past year as ideologically opposed leaders have disagreed on points of economic policy.