Paris  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Saturday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with the main order of business to be the joint opening of a memorial for the late French President Charles de Gaulle.

The two politicians were meeting in de Gaulle's home town of Colombey-les-deux Eglises, 120 kilometres south-east of Paris, on the 50 anniversary of the meeting of de Gaulle with then-West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

Merkel and Sarkozy were in addition to discuss a European answer to the financial crisis, which will be the subject of Sunday emergency summit of eurozone countries.

The historic meeting between de Gaulle and Adenauer was part of the process of Franco-German reconciliation after World War II, a development regarded as an important cornerstone in Western Europe's post-war political order. (dpa)