It's a partnership formed after a war - 50 years on, the battle in Europe is an economic one.<br/> <br />And to win it France and Germany must have a good relationship.<br/> <br />Both countries' leaders tried to prove they did as they celebrated the anniversary of the Elysee Treaty.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING:<br/> <br />"It is perhaps our best kept secret, that the chemistry is right and we can work together well."<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOISE HOLLANDE, SAYING:<br/> <br />"The Franco-German relationship is exceptional. We don't have a relationship like it with any other country in the world...it's unique within Europe because of what happened after two world wars."<br/> <br />Markets have been relatively calm so far this year.<br/> <br />But the euro zone debt crisis is far from over.<br/> <br />And France and Germany still have serious issues to deal with, particularly France which last year lost its prized triple A credit rating.<br/> <br />HSBC's Bronwyn Curtis.<br/> <br />SOUNDBITE: Bronwyn Curtis, Senior Advisor, HSBC Global Banking and Markets, saying (English):<br/> <br />"Germany has become a very strong financial leader in Europe whereas France is suffering somewhat. But I think overall it is still important that France and Germany get on and do work together to push the integration of Europe forward."<br/> <br />Despite being born less than a month apart the leaders have little in common.<br/> <br />Merkel preaches tight central control over European budgets while Hollande prefers sharing the risks.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING:<br/> <br />"We both agree that competitiveness in a global context is of great significance, but that politically we can't create the framework alone for better competitiveness of our countries."<br/> <br />They both want their employers and employees, to come up with ideas to help them.<br/> <br />At the same time they're working on common proposals for deeper economic and monetary union - something they've promised to achieve by May.
