French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed Monday their agreement on the "independence" of the European Central Bank (BCE).

Sarkozy said France supports the independence of BCE, after meeting the German leader in Toulouse, southern France.

Merkel affirmed the two sides were in agreement on the fact that BCE is "independent."

The two leaders notably raised the issue of exchange policies. For the French president, European law allows leaders of euro-group member states to give "general orientations of exchange policies," without challenging BCE's independence. He expressed his concerns on "monetary dumping" practiced by other regions apart from Europe.

Merkel called for debates on disparities between the exchange rates, and on "fair" means of thrashing out issues related to exchange rates and currencies, and to deal with "real causes" of imbalance between different currencies in the world, while excluding "interventionist means."

Franco-German summit held Monday nevertheless focused on reorganization of the European aircraft and defense group EADS. The group's board of administration will henceforth be chaired on a rotational basis by a French and a German. It will first be chaired by a German national Rudiger Grube, the current co-president of the group alongside Arnaud Lagardere from France. The Frenchman will take over at the end of Grube's five-year term.

Formed in 2000, with industrial share holders such as DaimlerChrysler and Lagardere, as well as French, German and Spanish governments, EADS is today the world leader in aeronautic, space and defense sectors. Its annual turnover stands at 39.4 billion euros en 2006, and employs approximately 116,000 people across the world (1 U.S. dollar = 0.725 Euros).