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Merkel holds coalition talks on tax reform

Germany’s centre-right government meets to defuse an internal dispute over its tax reform plans, only three weeks after the new partners agreed their four-year policy road map

Opinion: German taxpayers should not bear Opel burden

The one-off financial burden for this necessary restructuring has to remain with GM. Not with German and European taxpayers, writes Kurt Lauk

Wolfgang Munchau: A Franco-German marriage of convenience

The need for France and Germany to pull together is ever more obvious to an increasing number of people in both countries, writes Wolfgang Münchau

SPD chief rejects calls to swing to the left

The designated chairman of Germany’s Social Democratic Party vows to keep the party ‘in the centre’ in spite of an electoral debacle that sent it into opposition for the first time in 11 years

Advisers lambast Merkel’s policy on economy

The German government’s own advisers have criticised its tax cut plans as “not serious” and “unjustifiable”, adding their voices to the mounting criticism of Angela Merkel’s economic policy

Merkel attends Paris armistice day ceremonies

Nicolas Sarkozy calls for ‘ever closer association of French and German policies’, describing the reconciliation of the two countries as a ‘treasure’ at an armistice day ceremony in Paris

Berlin remains cool to Paris overtures

For months the French government has been casting around for new projects to strengthen Franco-German co-operation at the heart of Europe, but it has found little enthusiasm in Berlin

Analysis: German industry – keeping the lights on

German manufacturing: State-backed initiatives and groups’ own flexibility measures are helping German engineering survive a collapse in orders – but curbs in lending by banks are a big fear

German factory output surges

German factory output surged unexpectedly in September, in a sign that foreign demand for the nation’s machines and cars bolstered the eurozone’s largest economy in the third quarter

Opinion: Human rights are the highest form of realism

States like Iran, Cuba, Zimbabwe and Burma, which are hostile to human dignity, may look stable, but they are actually rotting inside – for they have only fear and force to sustain them, and people will not be afraid forever, writes John McCain