Berlin - Germany expects tough negotiations at next week's European Union summit when leaders meet to decide on a climate package and measures to combat the global financial crisis, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday.

Addressing the lower house of parliament, Merkel said the proposals by the EU Commission for a 200-billion-euro (252 billion dollars) stimulus package were "in the right direction."

She told the Bundestag that Germany had already undertaken its own measures and would review the situation at the beginning of next year.

Stuttgart - Supporters of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives remained divided Tuesday over whether to accelerate tax cuts to stimulate the flagging economy.

Her own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) toed the Merkel line that cuts funded by borrowing would not help. Merkel told the CDU annual conference the previous day that she would invest in highways and schools instead.

But the Christian Social Union, the CDU's counterpart in Bavaria state, re-iterated its call for instant reductions in income tax.

Stuttgart  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday rejected immediate tax cuts to stimulate the economy, telling her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she preferred to invest in Germany's infrastructure.

The CDU re-elected Merkel party leader. She was the only candidate and is to lead the CDU in a general election next September.

She was addressing a two-day national party conference in the southern city of Stuttgart amid deep divisions over how Germany should come to grips with the worst financial upheaval in decades.

Stuttgart - German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Monday for investment in Germany's infrastructure, including the internet and highways, as a means to beat the financial crisis, but rejected immediate tax cuts.

She appealed for unity in her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), ahead of a general election in September.

She was addressing a two-day party conference in Stuttgart amid deep divisions over how Germany should come to grips with the worst financial upheaval in decades.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government suffered a shock setback

Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel phoned Indian Prime Minister