A leading contender to succeed German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday criticised her for taking too long to respond to a French push to strengthen the EU after Brexit. “I would like to apologise for the German government,” Armin Laschet said, casting himself as strongly pro-EU as the race to find a new leader for Merkel’s centre-right CDU party heats up. Macron has long called for an overhaul to the European Union in response to Britain’s departure from the bloc, including deeper integration in financial and defence matters, and has repeatedly urged Berlin to champion the reforms with him.