German Chancellor Angela Merkel's meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy today comes as investors clamor for indications that they will do more to stamp out the euro area's debt crisis as their economies sputter.

After a July 21 European Union agreement to bolster the region's rescue fund failed to calm markets, calls are growing for the leaders to begin discussing joint borrowing or a mutual guarantee among the 17 euro states, policies that both countries have rejected until now. While not on the agenda, the issue will probably come up at a joint press briefing scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Paris time after the talks.

Merkel and Sarkozy may announce proposals that “go in the direction” of joint euro-area bonds, Peter Bofinger, an economic adviser to the German government, said in an interview today on Bloomberg Television. “They cannot end this day empty handed. I think they have to deliver something.”