Merkel holds talks with opposition on EU growth policy

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is holding talks with the country's opposition leaders to forge a compromise on proposals for a European growth initiative. Her center-right government needs the support of opposition parties to secure a two-thirds majority for the EU's new treaty enshrining fiscal discipline in Parliament. Germany's main center-left opposition parties said ahead of Wednesday's meeting they would only vote for the so-called fiscal pact if it is amended to include an economic growth pact to support southern Europe's ailing nations, echoing similar proposals by France's new President Francois Hollande, according to a report of the Associated Press. Merkel maintains sustainable growth can be best fostered across Europe by structural reforms and a more efficient use of existing EU funds, not new deficit-financed spending.