As the German chancellor prepares to speak on the EU at Westminster, many fear Britain's expectations may be too high
The last time a German chancellor went to speak in front of both houses of parliament, a Guardian leader hailed it as "an unqualified success". Summing up Willy Brandt's visit to Britain on 2 March 1970, this newspaper wrote: "It is doubtful if relations between Britain and Germany have ever been better – not on a basis of overflowing sentiment, but in terms of quiet trust, patience and understanding."
It is unlikely the British media will be championing Angela Merkel's visit in similar tones by the end of the week. For a start, Britain was negotiating its way into the EU. When Angela Merkel speaks in Westminster on Thursday lunchtime, many of those on the benches in front of her would prefer Britain to negotiate its way out.
Those who want Britain to stay in, such as the prime minister, will be hoping Merkel will throw them a lifeline, a trophy the inners can show the outers as evidence for having successfully renegotiated Britain's relationship with Europe.
But at the top in Germany there is this week a growing concern that British expectations have grown far too high for the chancellor to meet. Her visit is expected to yield heartfelt assurances that Germany is keen to keep Britain in the EU, but not a list of policy areas that Merkel would help Cameron to "repatriate".
The feeling in German government circles is that Britain first needs to compose a wish list before Berlin can help deliver the presents. Three years after the government first mooted an EU membership referendum, some politicians in Berlin are bemused that Britain has yet to outline exactly which powers it wants to return from Brussels, and sometimes irritated with vague threats aired via the press.
The room Merkel has to voice her support on Thursday is limited, said Almut Möller of the German Council on Foreign Relations thinktank. "Merkel is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand she would like to help Cameron out of the corner, as Germany wants Britain in rather than out. But in effect, her real game is the eurozone and therefore she will not keep Britain in the EU at all costs. And the rest of Europe will listen carefully to what she says in the British parliament."
Just over a year ago, Cameron's Bloomberg speech, which highlighted the need for European reform, found a surprising number of open ears in Germany, even among Social Democrats. "Not more Europe, but a better Europe" is a phrase you often hear in Berlin these days. German politicians openly talk of the need to reform the EU, something they share with few European countries apart from Britain.
But if some British eurosceptics would like to reopen the EU treaty and repatriate entire policy areas, the German government's understanding of reform is more focused on changing processes in Brussels, such as reducing the number of commissioners or vice presidents in the European commissions, thus slowing down its activity rate and reach.
"Cameron's interpretation of Merkel's stance is partially based on a misunderstanding," said Stefan Kornelius, foreign editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung and author of an authorised Merkel biography. "He took her support of his stance in the EU budget debate as a statement of blanket support for Britain's renegotiation strategy. One priority for her speech will be to readjust expectations of what she can deliver."
While banking union and further economic integration in the eurozone will require some changes to the treaties, the German government would prefer to do so without having to reopen old agreements entirely: Vertragsanpassungen, "treaty modifications" rather than "treaty change", is the phrase her party uses. "Reopening the Lisbon treaty and having to get it ratified by all member states is the last thing Merkel wants," said Kornelius.
"Renegotiating treaties is definitely not an option," Gunther Krichbaum, the CDU chairman of the commission on European affairs, told the Guardian. "These treaties already are compromises – we'd end up where we started."
In any concession she can make to Britain on Thursday, Merkel will be restrained by her coalition agreement with the Social Democrats, who would never accept reopening the Lisbon treaty and deleting the phrase "ever closer union", as some British Conservatives would like to.
She will also have to take into account her own party's European manifesto, which is set to be presented at the CDU party conference in April. While the current draft hints at some common ground with the Tories over making it harder for EU migrants to access benefits, it also treats it as an issue to be addressed by national parliaments, rather than a problem that requires a wholesale revision of the freedom of movement principle.
Merkel and her speechwriters will be aware of the historic dimension of her visit. While British parliamentarians shouldn't expect rhetorical fireworks, it's possible she will add a personal flavour to her speech, as when she spoke in front of both chambers of the US Congress in 2009.
"Merkel is good at presidential speeches," said Möller. "There are plenty of things she can wax lyrical about without getting into tricky areas: the upcoming first world war centenary, the need for a more global outlook in the economy, the inspiring achievements of British parliamentary democracy." But whether that will be enough to appease Cameron's backbenchers is doubtful. Reported by guardian.co.uk 9 hours ago.
The last time a German chancellor went to speak in front of both houses of parliament, a Guardian leader hailed it as "an unqualified success". Summing up Willy Brandt's visit to Britain on 2 March 1970, this newspaper wrote: "It is doubtful if relations between Britain and Germany have ever been better – not on a basis of overflowing sentiment, but in terms of quiet trust, patience and understanding."
It is unlikely the British media will be championing Angela Merkel's visit in similar tones by the end of the week. For a start, Britain was negotiating its way into the EU. When Angela Merkel speaks in Westminster on Thursday lunchtime, many of those on the benches in front of her would prefer Britain to negotiate its way out.
Those who want Britain to stay in, such as the prime minister, will be hoping Merkel will throw them a lifeline, a trophy the inners can show the outers as evidence for having successfully renegotiated Britain's relationship with Europe.
But at the top in Germany there is this week a growing concern that British expectations have grown far too high for the chancellor to meet. Her visit is expected to yield heartfelt assurances that Germany is keen to keep Britain in the EU, but not a list of policy areas that Merkel would help Cameron to "repatriate".
The feeling in German government circles is that Britain first needs to compose a wish list before Berlin can help deliver the presents. Three years after the government first mooted an EU membership referendum, some politicians in Berlin are bemused that Britain has yet to outline exactly which powers it wants to return from Brussels, and sometimes irritated with vague threats aired via the press.
The room Merkel has to voice her support on Thursday is limited, said Almut Möller of the German Council on Foreign Relations thinktank. "Merkel is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand she would like to help Cameron out of the corner, as Germany wants Britain in rather than out. But in effect, her real game is the eurozone and therefore she will not keep Britain in the EU at all costs. And the rest of Europe will listen carefully to what she says in the British parliament."
Just over a year ago, Cameron's Bloomberg speech, which highlighted the need for European reform, found a surprising number of open ears in Germany, even among Social Democrats. "Not more Europe, but a better Europe" is a phrase you often hear in Berlin these days. German politicians openly talk of the need to reform the EU, something they share with few European countries apart from Britain.
But if some British eurosceptics would like to reopen the EU treaty and repatriate entire policy areas, the German government's understanding of reform is more focused on changing processes in Brussels, such as reducing the number of commissioners or vice presidents in the European commissions, thus slowing down its activity rate and reach.
"Cameron's interpretation of Merkel's stance is partially based on a misunderstanding," said Stefan Kornelius, foreign editor of Süddeutsche Zeitung and author of an authorised Merkel biography. "He took her support of his stance in the EU budget debate as a statement of blanket support for Britain's renegotiation strategy. One priority for her speech will be to readjust expectations of what she can deliver."
While banking union and further economic integration in the eurozone will require some changes to the treaties, the German government would prefer to do so without having to reopen old agreements entirely: Vertragsanpassungen, "treaty modifications" rather than "treaty change", is the phrase her party uses. "Reopening the Lisbon treaty and having to get it ratified by all member states is the last thing Merkel wants," said Kornelius.
"Renegotiating treaties is definitely not an option," Gunther Krichbaum, the CDU chairman of the commission on European affairs, told the Guardian. "These treaties already are compromises – we'd end up where we started."
In any concession she can make to Britain on Thursday, Merkel will be restrained by her coalition agreement with the Social Democrats, who would never accept reopening the Lisbon treaty and deleting the phrase "ever closer union", as some British Conservatives would like to.
She will also have to take into account her own party's European manifesto, which is set to be presented at the CDU party conference in April. While the current draft hints at some common ground with the Tories over making it harder for EU migrants to access benefits, it also treats it as an issue to be addressed by national parliaments, rather than a problem that requires a wholesale revision of the freedom of movement principle.
Merkel and her speechwriters will be aware of the historic dimension of her visit. While British parliamentarians shouldn't expect rhetorical fireworks, it's possible she will add a personal flavour to her speech, as when she spoke in front of both chambers of the US Congress in 2009.
"Merkel is good at presidential speeches," said Möller. "There are plenty of things she can wax lyrical about without getting into tricky areas: the upcoming first world war centenary, the need for a more global outlook in the economy, the inspiring achievements of British parliamentary democracy." But whether that will be enough to appease Cameron's backbenchers is doubtful. Reported by guardian.co.uk 9 hours ago.