PARIS (AP) -- France and Germany, the twin economic engines of continental Europe, will not let their auto industries flounder amid the financial meltdown and economic crisis, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday.
Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they agreed during talks that coordinated action was key to addressing the economic downturn, even if different measures were used by Paris or Berlin.
"We want to react with speed and with force to relaunch the economy" in a manner appropriate to each country but coordinated, Sarkozy said at a news conference with Merkel after their talks.
"What is sure is that we won't let the auto industry down," Sarkozy said.
The two leaders came into the talks -- one of a series of regular get-togethers between the powerful European partners -- with a different set of approaches. Berlin prefers national aid and Paris is partial to a Europe-wide plan.
No concrete proposals were offered but Sarkozy raised the possibility of "fiscal" or "targeted" measures.
He noted that in France the auto industry, including dealerships, involves 10 percent of the working population.
Washington could accord a $25 billion loan to help save Detroit's big three automakers, Sarkozy noted, so automakers in Europe cannot find themselves without aid and still be obliged by the EU to build cleaner cars.
"The will to help European industry, and notably the automobile sector, is total," said the French president.
He said he and Merkel were on the same wavelength in their wish to defend industry, through innovation, research or technology -- not protectionist measures.
Merkel said "it would be disastrous" if there were not a European response to the crisis. She said she favors measures that don't carry a big price tag.
Consumer confidence is sinking in France and a new survey shows business confidence in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, at a 15-year low.
