Merkel, US Treas Secty Paulson to meet - Germany

BERLIN, Dec 16 (Reuters) German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in Berlin on Thursday, a German government spokesman said today. The spokesman, confirming a report in weekly magazine WirtschaftsWoche, declined to give any details.

Germany assumes the presidencies of the European Union (EU) and the Group of Eight (G8) rich nations next year.

WirtschaftsWoche reported that Merkel and Paulson would prepare for April's EU-United States summit and would discuss deepening EU-US economic ties, the magazine said.

Merkel said last month she was considering pushing for a transatlantic free trade zone and suggested financial market regulation could be more closely harmonised.

Reuters MS VV1736