French minister Sapin takes aim at German Schaüble over Grexit idea

French finance minister Michel Sapin has criticised his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaüble for suggesting Greece could temporarily leave the euro zone, but said the Franco-German relationship is "not broken".

In an interview with German business daily Handelsblatt, Sapin said Schaüble was wrong to suggest the euro zone "time-out" – an idea the German finance minister floated during talks to clinch a deal to keep Greece in the bloc.

“I think that Schaüble is wrong and is even getting into conflict with his deep European volition,” Sapin said.

“This volition, and it is also mine, involves strengthening the euro zone,” he said, adding that this ruled out the possibility of a temporary exit from the 19-member currency union.

But he said he wanted to work with Schaüble to foster closer euro zone integration.

– Reuters