German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the victory of French President Emmanuel Macron's party in the first round of parliamentary elections a "strong vote for reforms" and a senior official signaled Berlin's willingness to deepen cooperation, Reuters reported.

France is Germany's second-biggest trading partner and the strong support for pro-European centrist reformer Macron has sparked hopes that Berlin and Paris will spearhead a broad-based economic revival in Europe and a push for more integration in the euro zone.

Projections after the first election round on Sunday showed that Macron's fledgling party is set to trounce France's traditional main parties and secure a huge majority to push through pro-business reforms.

"Chancellor Merkel: My heartfelt congratulations to Emmanuel Macron to the great success of his party in the first election round. Strong vote for reforms," the government tweeted.

Merkel and Macron agreed last month to draw up a roadmap to deeper EU integration and suggested the bloc's treaties may change to facilitate even more ambitious reform.

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