The Franco-German alliance must remain the engine that drives the EU, German opposition leader Angela Merkel told French leaders yesterday, despite vows to reshape the relationship if she comes to power.

During a visit to Paris, Ms Merkel sought to reassure President Jacques Chirac that France will continue to be Germany's key partner even if she ousts his friend and ally Gerhard Schroeder as chancellor in an election expected this year.

"We had an excellent meeting, marked by the idea of Franco-German friendship - the awareness that the future construction of Europe depends very much on Franco-German relations," Ms Merkel told reporters after talks with Mr Chirac.

"All initiatives taken must be open to all European countries, but France and Germany must be the engine of these initiatives," she said at Mr Chirac's Elysee Palace.

Mr Chirac told Ms Merkel the Berlin-Paris partnership was an irreplaceable driver of European integration and must promote plans that all 25 European Union states could be part of, a spokesman for the president said.

There was no public disagreement over Ms Merkel's recent criticism of the agricultural subsidies that mainly benefit French farmers, which Mr Chirac has signalled his determination to hang onto amid wrangling over the EU Budget.

Despite Ms Merkel's bridge-building, there is a growing sense that the axis that has powered the European Union for decades, most recently personified by Mr Chirac and Mr Schroeder, may be shifting.

Ms Merkel's Christian Democrats lead by 15-19 points in opinion polls ahead of an expected September election in Germany. And Mr Chirac has looked weak and rattled since losing a May 29 referendum on the EU Constitution.

Ms Merkel, 51, also met French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, a rival of Mr Chirac's who hopes to be elected president in 2007 - and whose views appear in some ways closer to her own than Mr Chirac's.

At a joint news conference, Mr Sarkozy and Ms Merkel sketched out a vision of a more open, less exclusive Franco-German axis.

Earlier this month, Mr Sarkozy declared the alliance outdated and suggested five or six large countries should take the lead in promoting European integration.

He told the news conference:

"We think that the Franco-German axis is indispensable... But several times in the past it has been conceived as a threat or subject of concern by our other partners. What we want is that this axis should not exclude friendship and cooperation with others. First among these are Britain, Spain and Italy."

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