France and Germany on Monday buried a disagreement over future European Union targets for car emissions, which had threatened a clash between the two partners just three weeks before Paris is to take over the EU’s rotating presidency.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy used a regular French-German cabinet meeting in Straubing, southern Germany, to announce the agreement on the measure – part of the EU’s plan to cut CO2 emissions by 20 per cent at least by 2020.

Success in the talks between the two countries, Europe’s largest carmakers, was seen as necessary for a wider agreement in the 27-member bloc. “We have achieved a breakthrough,” said Ms Merkel. ... Read full article