Germany, Merkel urge swift action to boost economy

PARIS: The leaders of France and Germany have called for swift action by Europe to stem an economic slide.

President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel have called for measures like an injection of state cash for small businesses, infrastructure projects and households.

They insist the ``exceptional times'' will lead some European Union countries to surpass the EU's 3 percent limit on a national deficit compared to economic output.

They say the plan to be discussed in coming days would be strong, temporary and targeted. They say that member states would decide their own ``dose'' of state support.

The leaders made the comments in a joint newspaper column published Wednesday in France's Le Figaro and Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.