Frank-Walter Steinmeier warns of dangers of loss of trust in European Union and says nationalist rhetoric must be resisted
The loss of trust in the European Union presents a "great danger" as opponents resort to "nationalist rhetoric sung to the catchy tune of criticism of Europe", the German foreign minister has warned.
In a Guardian article to mark the centenary of the first world war, Frank-Walter Steinmeier calls on Britain to acknowledge that the EU has made a European war "unimaginable".
The intervention by Steinmeier, one of the senior SPD figures appointed to Angela Merkel's new grand coalition cabinet, comes as David Cameron moves to head off a rebellion by Tory backbenchers who want to put Britain in breach of its EU obligations by re-imposing work restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians until 2018.
Tory MPs reacted angrily after the home secretary, Theresa May, tabled 50 amendments – many of a highly technical nature – to the immigration bill for debate on Thursday. This means MPs are highly unlikely to have time to vote on the main rebel amendment.
The prime minister said that immigration from Romania and Bulgaria had been at a "reasonable level" after transitional controls on access for workers were lifted on 1 January on the seventh anniversary of their accession to the EU in 2007. But Mark Reckless, a Tory member of the Commons home affairs select committee who supports the rebel amendment to re-introduce the transitional controls on Romanian and Bulgarian workers until 2018, said his ultimate objective was to end Britain's membership of the EU.
Reckless told The World at One on BBC Radio 4: "I would like to leave the EU. I think we would be better off as an independent country trading with Europe but governing ourselves."
In his Guardian article, the German foreign minister indicated that he had hardline Eurosceptics in mind when he called on critics to bear in mind that Europe had found a way of resolving its differences peacefully. Steinmeier writes: "For some, the pursuit of compromises around negotiating tables in Brussels is too arduous, protracted and unwieldy. This commemorative year reminds us of the importance of remaining aware of what an achievement of civilisation it is that EU states, once opponents in numerous conflicts, can spend long nights seeking joint solutions in a peaceful and civilised manner."
The foreign minister, who was careful not to name British Eurosceptics, said the growing opposition to the EU was dangerous. He said: "The loss of trust in the European project which has accompanied the economic crisis in Europe, particularly prominent in the young generation hit by unemployment and the lack of prospects in large parts of the EU, holds great danger. In such an atmosphere, it is easy to fall back on nationalist rhetoric, sung to the catchy tune of criticism of Europe. Given our history, we must firmly resist this."
The article by Steinmeier is the first intervention by a German minister since Michael Gove criticised "leftwing academics" and dramas such as Blackadder that he said depicted the first world war as "a series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite". In a Daily Mail article earlier this month, Gove described it as a "plainly just war" against German aggression. He wrote: "The ruthless social Darwinism of the German elites, the pitiless approach they took to occupation, their aggressively expansionist war aims and their scorn for the international order all made resistance more than justified."
Steinmeier said all sides shared the blame for the collapse of the fragile balance of power in Europe in the summer of 1914 as he wrote of "a disturbing tale of the failure of the governing elites and the military, but also of diplomacy". But he was highly critical of the conduct of Berlin. "In Berlin, instead of de-escalation and understanding, the lust for escalation prevailed."
May was criticised by Tory MPs for tabling so many technical amendments to the immigration bill on Thursday that it will be all but impossible to debate and vote on the main rebel amendment on Romania and Bulgaria. Peter Bone, the rightwing MP for Wellingborough, challenged May in the Commons to give MPs more than the four hours allocated for the report and third reading of the bill on Thursday.
May replied: "I recognise that there are a significant number of government amendments. They are mainly small and technical but, like [you], I would prefer that we did not have to bring so many technical amendments to the house at this stage."
David Hanson, the shadow Home Office minister, announced that Labour would support an amendment tabled by the Tory backbencher Stephen Phillips to offer greater transparency about the impact of migration from future EU member states. The amendment would oblige a future government to publish an estimate of the number of migrants from future member states when it negotiated accession treaties. Reported by guardian.co.uk 37 minutes ago.
The loss of trust in the European Union presents a "great danger" as opponents resort to "nationalist rhetoric sung to the catchy tune of criticism of Europe", the German foreign minister has warned.
In a Guardian article to mark the centenary of the first world war, Frank-Walter Steinmeier calls on Britain to acknowledge that the EU has made a European war "unimaginable".
The intervention by Steinmeier, one of the senior SPD figures appointed to Angela Merkel's new grand coalition cabinet, comes as David Cameron moves to head off a rebellion by Tory backbenchers who want to put Britain in breach of its EU obligations by re-imposing work restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians until 2018.
Tory MPs reacted angrily after the home secretary, Theresa May, tabled 50 amendments – many of a highly technical nature – to the immigration bill for debate on Thursday. This means MPs are highly unlikely to have time to vote on the main rebel amendment.
The prime minister said that immigration from Romania and Bulgaria had been at a "reasonable level" after transitional controls on access for workers were lifted on 1 January on the seventh anniversary of their accession to the EU in 2007. But Mark Reckless, a Tory member of the Commons home affairs select committee who supports the rebel amendment to re-introduce the transitional controls on Romanian and Bulgarian workers until 2018, said his ultimate objective was to end Britain's membership of the EU.
Reckless told The World at One on BBC Radio 4: "I would like to leave the EU. I think we would be better off as an independent country trading with Europe but governing ourselves."
In his Guardian article, the German foreign minister indicated that he had hardline Eurosceptics in mind when he called on critics to bear in mind that Europe had found a way of resolving its differences peacefully. Steinmeier writes: "For some, the pursuit of compromises around negotiating tables in Brussels is too arduous, protracted and unwieldy. This commemorative year reminds us of the importance of remaining aware of what an achievement of civilisation it is that EU states, once opponents in numerous conflicts, can spend long nights seeking joint solutions in a peaceful and civilised manner."
The foreign minister, who was careful not to name British Eurosceptics, said the growing opposition to the EU was dangerous. He said: "The loss of trust in the European project which has accompanied the economic crisis in Europe, particularly prominent in the young generation hit by unemployment and the lack of prospects in large parts of the EU, holds great danger. In such an atmosphere, it is easy to fall back on nationalist rhetoric, sung to the catchy tune of criticism of Europe. Given our history, we must firmly resist this."
The article by Steinmeier is the first intervention by a German minister since Michael Gove criticised "leftwing academics" and dramas such as Blackadder that he said depicted the first world war as "a series of catastrophic mistakes perpetrated by an out-of-touch elite". In a Daily Mail article earlier this month, Gove described it as a "plainly just war" against German aggression. He wrote: "The ruthless social Darwinism of the German elites, the pitiless approach they took to occupation, their aggressively expansionist war aims and their scorn for the international order all made resistance more than justified."
Steinmeier said all sides shared the blame for the collapse of the fragile balance of power in Europe in the summer of 1914 as he wrote of "a disturbing tale of the failure of the governing elites and the military, but also of diplomacy". But he was highly critical of the conduct of Berlin. "In Berlin, instead of de-escalation and understanding, the lust for escalation prevailed."
May was criticised by Tory MPs for tabling so many technical amendments to the immigration bill on Thursday that it will be all but impossible to debate and vote on the main rebel amendment on Romania and Bulgaria. Peter Bone, the rightwing MP for Wellingborough, challenged May in the Commons to give MPs more than the four hours allocated for the report and third reading of the bill on Thursday.
May replied: "I recognise that there are a significant number of government amendments. They are mainly small and technical but, like [you], I would prefer that we did not have to bring so many technical amendments to the house at this stage."
David Hanson, the shadow Home Office minister, announced that Labour would support an amendment tabled by the Tory backbencher Stephen Phillips to offer greater transparency about the impact of migration from future EU member states. The amendment would oblige a future government to publish an estimate of the number of migrants from future member states when it negotiated accession treaties. Reported by guardian.co.uk 37 minutes ago.