French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday reiterated his call for the euro zone to have its own budget, saying Europe needed more ambitious financing to help defend its interests and bring about economic and fiscal convergence among member states.

"I believe in a much more ambitious European budget... I believe in a more integrated eurozone, with its own budget," Macron said in the western German city of Aachen after receiving the Charlemagne prize for his efforts in boosting EU integration.

"In Germany, there cannot be a perpetual fetish for budget and trade surpluses, because they are achieved at the expense of others," said Macron in Aachen, where he was awarded the prestigious Charlemagne prize for his efforts in boosting EU cohesion and integration.