France and Germany said on Monday they would not copy Britain in cutting value-added tax to boost spending but they showed no sign of patching up their main differences on how to kickstart European economic growth.

The European Commission is due to unveil on Wednesday a proposal for how the EU should tackle the downturn, including a likely suggestion that states contribute about 1 percent of the bloc's gross domestic product to fund stimulus measures.

Germany has given some of the plans a lukewarm reception, and Chancellor Angela Merkel's reluctance to throw more cash at the measures has prompted French President Nicolas Sarkozy to quip that "while France is working, Germany is thinking".

At a joint Franco-German cabinet meeting in Paris on Monday, Merkel defended her approach, saying Berlin needed time to assess the effects of a growth package approved by the cabinet earlier this month before deciding what further steps to take.

"We are negotiating and thinking in parallel," Merkel told a joint news conference with Sarkozy when asked about the French president's remark, adding that the German government would meet in January to assess the impact of its growth plan.

"None of us can entirely foresee the course of the financial crisis, and anyone who acts as though they can are fooling themselves slightly. We will have many joint discussions yet, about thinking as well as about negotiating," she said.

Merkel added that the frequently cited figure of 130 billion euros ($164 billion) was a rough estimate of the size of the future European Union growth package, and Germany had already earmarked much of its share, underlining Berlin's aversion to more spending.

Sarkozy said the size of the plan, which he said was between 1 and 1.5 percent of GDP, "shows that something must be done".