President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel to address MEPs

French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will make a historic joint appearance in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 7 October. They will speak on topical European issues and will have a debate with political group leaders. It is the first joint address of French and German leaders since November 1989, when President François Mitrterand and Chancellor Helmut Kohl debated the end of the Cold War with MEPs. Follow our coverage live on Wednesday from 15.00 CET.

The plenary debate
Hollande and Merkel will address the plenary one after the other. Their speeches will be followed by reactions from a representative of each political group. Then the president and the chancellor will address the plenary again to answer MEPs and to conclude their speeches.

Finding common answers to challenges

The worsening crisis in Syria has led to a sharp increase in refugees in recent months. Some EU countries are now struggling to cope, while others are wary of taking in ever increasing numbers of refugees. The Greek debt crisis and the way EU countries coordinate their economic policies also remain important issues.

Coverage

The event will be streamed live on our website. You can also follow the discussion in English on Twitter via Europarl_EN and EuroparlPress, in French on Europarl_FR and in German on Europarl_DE. Join the conversation using the hashtag #HollandeMerkelEP.

A live page in English, French and German will be updated constantly in the News section of our website with the main points speakers are making. A full article will be published in the same space right after the end of the discussion.