This sentence was a gift for euroskeptics in Britain. "Suddenly Europe is speaking German," said Volker Kauder, floor leader for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, at the CDU party congress in Leipzig. The British press eagerly jumped on the soundbite on Wednesday, seeing it as confirmation of the old prejudices about Germany's supposed thirst for power. "Europe speaks German now!" was the headline in the tabloid newspaper Daily Mail, complete with fat exclamation points. "Controversial claim from Merkel ally that EU countries all follow Berlin's lead -- and Britain should fall into line," the paper continued in outrage. But the consensus of the conservative British press was that such a thing would, of course, never happen. Instead, so the euroskeptics argued, British should take advantage of the euro crisis to "free" itself from the EU. The Kauder controversy is the latest indication of a growing rift between Berlin and London. On the British side, Business Secretary Vince Cable added fuel to the fire on Wednesday in connection to a proposed European Union tax on financial transactions. Cable described the so-called Tobin tax, which Germany has been campaigning for, as "completely unjustified." Kauder, meanwhile, had earlier criticized British opposition to the tax as irresponsible. Merkel's and Sarkozy's reactions to the criticism coming out of London have been increasing thin-skinned. At the most recent EU summit, Sarkozy's comment about Cameron -- that he was "sick of him telling us what to do" and that Cameron had "lost a good opportunity to shut up" -- came from the heart, but Chancellor Merkel will probably be a bit more diplomatic on Friday. She knows she'll need Cameron on her side if she is going to be able to push through an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty, given that changes must be unanimously approved by all 27 EU member states. On Thursday, she appeared to strike a conciliatory note. "We want a Europe with Great Britain," she said at a conference in Berlin. One would have to handle the process of further European integration with great political sensibility, she added.
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Friday, November 18, 2011
This sentence was a gift for euroskeptics in Britain. "Suddenly Europe is speaking German," said Volker Kauder, floor leader for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union, at the CDU party congress in Leipzig. The British press eagerly jumped on the soundbite on Wednesday, seeing it as confirmation of the old prejudices about Germany's supposed thirst for power. "Europe speaks German now!" was the headline in the tabloid newspaper Daily Mail, complete with fat exclamation points. "Controversial claim from Merkel ally that EU countries all follow Berlin's lead -- and Britain should fall into line," the paper continued in outrage. But the consensus of the conservative British press was that such a thing would, of course, never happen. Instead, so the euroskeptics argued, British should take advantage of the euro crisis to "free" itself from the EU. The Kauder controversy is the latest indication of a growing rift between Berlin and London. On the British side, Business Secretary Vince Cable added fuel to the fire on Wednesday in connection to a proposed European Union tax on financial transactions. Cable described the so-called Tobin tax, which Germany has been campaigning for, as "completely unjustified." Kauder, meanwhile, had earlier criticized British opposition to the tax as irresponsible. Merkel's and Sarkozy's reactions to the criticism coming out of London have been increasing thin-skinned. At the most recent EU summit, Sarkozy's comment about Cameron -- that he was "sick of him telling us what to do" and that Cameron had "lost a good opportunity to shut up" -- came from the heart, but Chancellor Merkel will probably be a bit more diplomatic on Friday. She knows she'll need Cameron on her side if she is going to be able to push through an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty, given that changes must be unanimously approved by all 27 EU member states. On Thursday, she appeared to strike a conciliatory note. "We want a Europe with Great Britain," she said at a conference in Berlin. One would have to handle the process of further European integration with great political sensibility, she added.
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7 comments:
Germany's secret plans to derail a British referendum on the EU'
Why don't you publish the leaked document?
Nothing in your blog explains what you mean by such a statement and you have nothing to back it up.
It is totally misleading, sloppy journalism verging on barefaced lies.
I suspect that the purpose of this headline is to stir up all the EU antis early on a Friday morning.
You succeeded of course because most people on here who read your jingoistic crap, actually believe it.
So Cameron's position is ; it is in our ( the UK's ) interests that the Eurozone economy recovers but the responsibility for paying for this is Germany's but they must pay enough to do so ( "the bigger the bazooka"). Surprise, surprise the Germans won't play ball. They won't play ball either when we try to "pick and choose" which elements of the Lisbon treaty we like or don't like. Our choice is : in or out?
And unfortunately Cameron knows that pulling out is impossible ( anyone close to power does, only dreamers without access to the economic reality believe withdrawal would be in the UK's interest).
The time may be right to call their bluff. Sarkozy's a busted flush and his banks are even more so. And according to AEP and others, the Germans are already on the hook for a very large amount of Club Med debt. The transactions tax is just a way of giving them even more money to burn on their uni-european pipe dream.
The real reason Merkel has invited Cameron over for the weekend?
Her normal doormat is being cleaned and won't dry until Monday.
Not sure which step to put himself on, Cameron asks politely "How high?"
you cant trust or rely on the germans or the french and if they are politicians its worse. why are we wasting time with the EU slime? Read my papers from 1990 when I never wanted in and warned against single currencies. hang them all.
I smell a dirty deal on the cards. If we give up a referendum , Merkel wont impose a Tobin tax.Cameron returns trumpeting a great triumph.
Meanwhile, spin doctors from Germany are claiming that the UK doesn't contribute to the euro bailout funds or the ECB.
Quite the contrary the UK contributes a very large contribution to the ECB capitalisation as required by the Maastricht treaty and via the IMF contributes large amounts of borrowed funds that we have to finance and pay interest on. We are also net contributors to the EU budget and have been since 1972.All in all the UK pays a very large amount to the eurozone for very little return.But don't expect europhile Cameron to point it out.
An intrusive European body with the power to take over the economies of struggling nations should be set up to tackle the eurozone crisis, according to a leaked German government document. The six-page memo, by the German foreign office, argues that Europe’s economic powerhouses should be able to intervene in how beleaguered eurozone countries are run. The confidential blueprint sets out Germany’s plan to tackle the eurozone debt crisis by creating a “stability union” that will be “immediately followed by moves “on the way towards a political union”. It will prompt fears that Germany’s euro crisis plans could result in a European super-state with spending and tax plans set in Brussels. The proposals urge that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a eurozone bailout fund that will be established by the end of next year, should be transformed into a version of the International Monetary Fund for the EU. The European Monetary Fund (EMF) would be able to take full fiscal control of a failing country, including taking countries into receivership.....http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/ww2/molotovpact.html
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