German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany would spearhead efforts to ensure an effective post-pandemic EU recovery, after she held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. "We are going to work together and make Europe fit for tackling this crisis," Merkel said on Monday following talks with Macron at the German government guesthouse in Meseberg, north of Berlin. It is the first face-to-face meeting between the chancellor and another state leader after the coronavirus outbreak, Xinhua news agency reported. "I'm very happy that we agree on the challenges that we want to overcome together," added Merkel, who noted that "expectations are high" -- referring to Germany's EU presidency starting from July 1 -- but Berlin and Paris are ready to rise to the task, in a bid to invest more into the future to meet those challenges after the pandemic.