Politics are heating up in France and Germany as French president Nicolas Sarkozy clings to his political life and German chancellor Angela Merkel is under increasing pressure over more bailouts.

The Financial Times reports Merkel to join Sarkozy on campaign trail

German chancellor Angela Merkel promised to join Nicolas Sarkozy on the campaign trail as the French president took to the airwaves on Sunday to launch a set of German-style structural reforms aimed at seizing the initiative in his uphill re-election attempt.

Ms Merkel’s Christian Democrat party said she would “actively support Nicolas Sarkozy with joint appearances in the election campaign in the spring”. The announcement caused surprise in Paris as Mr Sarkozy, also of the centre-right, has yet officially to declare his candidacy for the election, which will take place over two rounds on April 22 and May 6.

The pledge by the German leader underscored the close ties she and Mr Sarkozy – together now habitually dubbed “Merkozy” – have built during the eurozone crisis, despite clear tensions between them at times. Ms Merkel pointedly avoided overt backing for David Cameron, the British Conservative party leader, in the 2010 UK general election.

Her intervention represented a clear rebuke to Mr Hollande. He has promised to renegotiate the new “fiscal compact” for the eurozone forged by Ms Merkel and Mr Sarkozy, due to be signed at a European Union summit in Brussels on Monday. He criticised it in his manifesto for lacking any growth stimulus and called for eurobonds and a revised pro-growth role for the European Central Bank, both strongly opposed by Berlin.
Sarkozy Proposes German-Style Reforms

Hoping to give a lift to his faltering campaign, Sarkozy to bring in German-style reforms
French president Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled German-style labour market reforms on Sunday as part of a package of measures aimed at reinvigorating the economy and his re-election prospects, hours after German chancellor Angela Merkel promised to join him on the campaign trail in an unusual show of cross-border support.

He announced a €13bn cut in France’s labour costs, which are among the highest in Europe, by reducing social charges on employers. The cut would be funded by an increase from October – well after the election – in value added tax to 21.2 per cent from the c