Sarkozy hosts Merkel, praises German tax-cut plan

Sarkozy said Merkel would come to Paris to attend the November 11 Armistice Day commemoration of the fallen from France wars with Germany.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday praised the new German government's tax-cutting plans as he hosted Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris on the first day of her new administration.

- Your choice of growth by lowering taxes is a very useful choice for Europe - he told reporters at his Elysee palace ahead of a dinner with Merkel, just hours after German lawmakers confirmed her return to office.

- The composition and the programme of your coalition government are good news for France - said Sarkozy.

He added that he and Merkel were in "almost total" agreement on the issues to be raised at Thursday's meeting of EU heads of state in Brussels.

Sarkozy said Merkel would come to Paris to attend the November 11 Armistice Day commemoration of the fallen from France's wars with Germany, becoming the first German leader to do so.

His aides said earlier that Sarkozy wanted to make November 11 a "day of French-German reconciliation."

Merkel was formally returned to office by the German parliament earlier Thursday as the head of a new right-wing coalition that has pledged to lift Germany out of its economic downturn.

It has promised 24 billion euros (35.6 billion dollars) worth of tax cuts.