France, Germany making progress on euro zone roadmap: French minister

PARIS (Reuters) - France and Germany are making progress on drawing up a joint roadmap for euro zone reform due later this month, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel aim to present their reform proposal at a European Union summit on June 27-28, but differences remain on a euro zone investment fund and joint bank deposit insurance. "We are on the right path. It's long and difficult, it takes a lot of time and determination ... But I think we are making progress toward reaching a Franco-German agreement on the roadmap for euro zone's future," Le Maire told a conference in Paris. Le Maire and his German counterpart held 13 hours of talks on Saturday in their latest effort to overcome differences on how to strengthen the euro zone. The French side wants a fund set up that would help countries facing an economic shock and smooth out divergences among members' economies. However, the German side has been reluctant to commit to anything that could see the transfer of taxpayer funds to other countries, including in the form of the a deposit insurance scheme. Le Maire said that the two sides were days away from agreeing joint Franco-German rules for calculating corporate tax, the least contentious issue under negotiation. The two sides are aiming to agree the roadmap by June 19 in order to present later to EU leaders at the June 27-28 summit. (Reporting by Yann Le Guernigou; writing by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Brian Love)