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Greens say no support for Macron's EZ budget idea in German talks

BERLIN (Reuters) - None of the German parties involved in exploratory coalition talks support French President Emmanuel Macron's idea to create a separate budget for the euro zone, a negotiator for the Greens party told Reuters on Wednesday.

Reinhard Buetikofer, who participated in a late-night negotiating session on European policy on Tuesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and the Free Democrats (FDP), said the Greens supported the idea of more investment in infrastructure but not a new budget.
"None of the participating parties support a euro zone budget," Buetikofer, a member of the European Parliament said.
"We Greens fully support the idea of finding ways, within the framework of the existing EU budget, to boost investment in infrastructure. We share Macron's aim of increasing investment."
The news is a blow to Macron, who has called for the creation of a euro zone budget of several hundred billions of euros to help the single currency bloc cope with economic shocks. The Greens are seen as the biggest supporters of Macron's ideas among the German parties considering a coalition.

(Reporting by Noah Barkin; Editing by Michelle Martin)