Biden to visit Germany, France and UK in European tour

Vice President Biden will travel to Europe early next month for meetings with top foreign leaders, further signal that the vice president will play a more central role in President Obama's second term.

Biden's trip will kick off in Germany, where he plans to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, and give a policy speech at the Munich Security Conference. Biden appeared before that group four years ago, at the beginning of Obama's first term.

He and second lady Jill Biden will then travel to Paris, where he will meet with President François Hollande and members of the French government. Biden will then cross the Channel, for meetings in London  with Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and other members of the British Cabinet.

According to the White House, "at all stops, the vice president will discuss with key leaders a full range of bilateral, regional and global issues."

The international trip comes on the heels of Biden adopting a greater domestic policy agenda, serving as point person for the White House during the "fiscal cliff" negotiations and leading the task force named by Obama to formulate policy proposals to combat gun violence. 

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