The French and German leaders have called for "true economic governance" for the eurozone in response to the euro debt crisis.

面对欧元区债务危机，德法领导人呼吁对欧元区实行“真正的经济管理”。

Speaking at a joint¹ news conference, German Chancellor² Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged much closer economic and fiscal³（会计的） policy in the eurozone.

Ms Merkel said that further integration⁴（集成，综合） would be a "step-by-step" process.

They also advocated a tax on financial transactions to raise more revenues.

Negative reaction

The two leaders said they wanted bi-annual meetings of the 17 heads of the eurozone governments, chaired by Herman van Rompuy, the current president of the European Council.

Markets reacted negatively to the conference, with some investors⁶ saying that they were expecting bigger announcements.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% during and after the press conference, which took place after the close of trading in Europe, but recovered later.

Government bonds in the US and Germany - seen as safe havens⁷ in any economic downturn - rallied in reaction to the leaders' comments.

Ms Merkel again played down the chances of introducing "eurobonds" - jointly⁸ guaranteed debts of the 17 eurozone governments - as a solution to the crisis.

The idea has been advocated by the Italian finance minister, Giulio Tremonti, as well as billionaire investor⁵ George Soros as a way of providing cheap financing to struggling governments while also incentivising them to put their finances in order.

But the German chancellor said she only saw such a move coming at the end of a long process of fiscal union.