David Cameron and Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel on Wednesday refused to endorse the UK prime minister’s demand for European treaty change, offering only limited support for his bid to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU.
The German chancellor repeated her assurance that she wanted to help David Cameron keep Britain in the bloc — he has promised to hold an in-out referendum on UK membership in 2017 — telling a Downing Street press conference: “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”
But on the crucial question of whether Berlin would support Mr Cameron’s bid to change EU treaties, a move that could trigger political tension across Europe, Ms Merkel simply ignored the question.
The German chancellor was also evasive when asked if Germany would back Mr Cameron’s proposal to stop paying child benefit to migrant workers if their children live in their home country.
German diplomats say Ms Merkel’s patience with Britain’s demands is limited — not least because she is having to deal with a renewed Greek crisis in the eurozone.
Berlin has also indicated that Ms Merkel sees no need to commit herself to backing Mr Cameron’s negotiating position now, partly because she is unsure exactly what he wants and partly because he could be out of office in a few months.
Strains in the relationship were exposed in November ahead of a long-awaited speech by Mr Cameron on Europe and immigration, in which the prime minister had floated the idea of imposing caps on migration.
The prime minister dropped the idea at the last moment after Ms Merkel’s office made it clear she would not support any British change that infringed on the EU’s principle of free movement.
On a day of diplomacy overshadowed by a terrorist attack in Paris, Mr Cameron attempted to improve relations — initially by joining Ms Merkel on a visit to the British Museum’s Germany exhibition.
Later at their joint press conference, Mr Cameron sounded an unusually positive note on Britain’s EU membership, asserting: “I don’t think the right answer is for Britain to leave.”
He said that he wanted to reform rules on the benefits paid to EU migrants and other changes that were “sensible and practical”; he believes some of those reforms will require treaty change.
He also said that none of his proposals would “break the principle of free movement” — confirmation that Mr Cameron recognises he would run into a brick wall in Germany if he tried to rewrite one of the EU’s founding ideals.
Ms Merkel suggested that changes to rules on benefits could be achieved without a wholesale rewriting of treaties.
Ms Merkel would in principle like a treaty to improve the governance of the eurozone — a text Mr Cameron wants to adapt to incorporate UK demands — but she recognises that few if any other eurozone states support the idea.
That could complicate Mr Cameron’s negotiating position if he wins the UK general election in May; he wants treaty change to reform benefit rules, to exclude Britain from the “ever-closer union” provisions of the EU and to give national parliaments more say over European law.
Meanwhile the prime minister was critical of those, including some in his own party, who have suggested Britain could flourish outside the EU like Norway or Switzerland, saying their views were “often very contradictory”.
Ms Merkel’s non-committal appearance on Wednesday was nevertheless welcomed by Tory officials as supportive, including her remark: “I very much like having the UK in a strong and successful EU.”
Her comments were not just flattery: Ms Merkel regards Britain as an important ally in achieving some EU reforms, including reducing “red tape” and pushing for free trade deals — including with the US.
The visit to London was primarily to discuss the agenda for the G7 in 2015; Ms Merkel is chairing the grouping and will host a meeting in Bavaria in June.
source: ft.com
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 