(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the creation of a European capital markets union will be a priority during meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron this week. 

“I’ve forged an alliance here with the French president in the attempt to achieve this,” Scholz said in Berlin during a town hall meeting on Sunday. “We finally need a functioning capital markets union.”

The hoped-for single market for capital across the European Union would be an important instrument for creating jobs and economic growth, Scholz said. In the past, the two leaders failed to find common ground on Macron’s push for capital markets integration.

“American-style capitalism is much more alive and able to finance new companies even though they are making losses,” he added. In the EU, by contrast, financing startups is difficult “because right now we have 27 fenced-off capital markets.”

Read more: Macron Visit to Test Franco-German Relationship 

Macron makes a three-day state visit to Germany starting Sunday. 

Following his arrival in Berlin, the French leader will attend celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of the German constitution together with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Macron heads to Dresden and Muenster on Monday. 

The French and German governments will hold a joint cabinet meeting on Tuesday at Schloss Meseberg, north of Berlin, where Scholz and Macron will meet and later hold a press conference. As well as the potential CMU they’re expected to discuss a European anti-missile shield.

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