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| Cameron to Seek German Support on European Reform | Cameron to Seek German Support on European Reform |
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| BERLIN — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain planned to travel to Germany on Friday for what was billed as a cozy family gathering with Chancellor Angela Merkel at an 18th-century manor house, resuming a diplomatic overture to mend his country’s frayed ties with the European Union that was interrupted earlier this week by the death of Margaret Thatcher. | BERLIN — Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain planned to travel to Germany on Friday for what was billed as a cozy family gathering with Chancellor Angela Merkel at an 18th-century manor house, resuming a diplomatic overture to mend his country’s frayed ties with the European Union that was interrupted earlier this week by the death of Margaret Thatcher. |
| Mr. Cameron, whose plan for a referendum on his country’s membership in the 27-nation European Union has set his country further apart from continental Europe, was in Spain on Monday when Mrs. Thatcher, 87, died of a stroke. He hurried home to oversee a bout of tribute and introspection about Mrs. Thatcher, also postponing talks with President François Hollande of France. Mr. Cameron is seeking to reschedule those talks in Paris, British officials said. | Mr. Cameron, whose plan for a referendum on his country’s membership in the 27-nation European Union has set his country further apart from continental Europe, was in Spain on Monday when Mrs. Thatcher, 87, died of a stroke. He hurried home to oversee a bout of tribute and introspection about Mrs. Thatcher, also postponing talks with President François Hollande of France. Mr. Cameron is seeking to reschedule those talks in Paris, British officials said. |
| Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party is increasingly reluctant to entertain closer ties with the European Union but he is seeking to persuade Europe’s most powerful leaders that he wants to remain in the bloc, provided it undertakes reforms that will lessen its influence on the national powers of its members. | Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party is increasingly reluctant to entertain closer ties with the European Union but he is seeking to persuade Europe’s most powerful leaders that he wants to remain in the bloc, provided it undertakes reforms that will lessen its influence on the national powers of its members. |
| France and Germany registered opposition to Mr. Cameron’s vision when he announced in January that he would hold what was called an “in-out” referendum on Britain’s membership if the Conservatives prevail in national elections scheduled for 2015. German officials said Britain could not “cherry-pick” the terms of membership while France said the bloc was not an “à la carte” offering. | France and Germany registered opposition to Mr. Cameron’s vision when he announced in January that he would hold what was called an “in-out” referendum on Britain’s membership if the Conservatives prevail in national elections scheduled for 2015. German officials said Britain could not “cherry-pick” the terms of membership while France said the bloc was not an “à la carte” offering. |
| News reports said Mrs. Merkel invited Mr. Cameron to travel to Germany with his family for the meeting Friday and Saturday at a government guesthouse in Meseberg, northwest of Berlin. British news reports said it was the first time Mr. Cameron and his wife, Samantha, had been invited to take their three children on a foreign diplomatic initiative. | News reports said Mrs. Merkel invited Mr. Cameron to travel to Germany with his family for the meeting Friday and Saturday at a government guesthouse in Meseberg, northwest of Berlin. British news reports said it was the first time Mr. Cameron and his wife, Samantha, had been invited to take their three children on a foreign diplomatic initiative. |
| The display of cordiality underlines Mrs. Merkel’s desire to prevent Britain from leaving the European Union, British analysts said. The talks are also to cover issues including Syria’s civil war and Iran’s disputed nuclear program in advance of a planned meeting in Northern Ireland in June of the Group of 8 powers, officials in both countries said. The Group of 8 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. The European Union is also represented. | The display of cordiality underlines Mrs. Merkel’s desire to prevent Britain from leaving the European Union, British analysts said. The talks are also to cover issues including Syria’s civil war and Iran’s disputed nuclear program in advance of a planned meeting in Northern Ireland in June of the Group of 8 powers, officials in both countries said. The Group of 8 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. The European Union is also represented. |
| In a joint interview with five European newspapers this week, Mr. Cameron called for a “flexible Europe where we don’t all have to do the same things in the same way at the same time.” | In a joint interview with five European newspapers this week, Mr. Cameron called for a “flexible Europe where we don’t all have to do the same things in the same way at the same time.” |
| “It is not a matter of cherry-picking. It is a matter of flexibility,” he said. | “It is not a matter of cherry-picking. It is a matter of flexibility,” he said. |
| He said a changed relationship with the European Union was needed to counter dwindling support among Britons for continued membership, which he described as “wafer-thin.” | He said a changed relationship with the European Union was needed to counter dwindling support among Britons for continued membership, which he described as “wafer-thin.” |
| Britain’s relationship with Germany is far less confrontational than in the 1980s when Mrs. Thatcher clashed frequently with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and opposed his plan to reunify Germany as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. | Britain’s relationship with Germany is far less confrontational than in the 1980s when Mrs. Thatcher clashed frequently with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and opposed his plan to reunify Germany as the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. |
| Mr. Kohl, 83, was quoted in interviews this week as saying: “She was difficult, just as our relationship was difficult. From our point of view, this antagonism characterizes British policy on Europe to this day.” | Mr. Kohl, 83, was quoted in interviews this week as saying: “She was difficult, just as our relationship was difficult. From our point of view, this antagonism characterizes British policy on Europe to this day.” |
| But he also referred to her as “one of the most exceptionally gifted prime ministers there ever was.” | But he also referred to her as “one of the most exceptionally gifted prime ministers there ever was.” |
| Mrs. Merkel, who was born in the former East Germany, paid tribute to Mrs. Thatcher as “one of the great political figures of the 20th century” who “recognized the strength of the movements for freedom of Eastern Europe early on and stood up for them. I will not forget the part she played in overcoming the division of Europe and at the end of the cold war.” | Mrs. Merkel, who was born in the former East Germany, paid tribute to Mrs. Thatcher as “one of the great political figures of the 20th century” who “recognized the strength of the movements for freedom of Eastern Europe early on and stood up for them. I will not forget the part she played in overcoming the division of Europe and at the end of the cold war.” |
| Mr. Cameron’s invitation to Meseberg reciprocated a visit by Mrs. Merkel to Chequers, the country residence of British prime ministers, in 2010. | Mr. Cameron’s invitation to Meseberg reciprocated a visit by Mrs. Merkel to Chequers, the country residence of British prime ministers, in 2010. |
| The idea of “home” visits has not always produced success. | The idea of “home” visits has not always produced success. |
| Mr. Kohl long sought to overcome Mrs. Thatcher’s suspicion of German intentions and persuade her of his credentials as a European, inviting her to his home at Ludwigshafen in southern Germany and offering her one of his favorite meals, made of pig’s stomach and other ingredients. | |
| As one of Mrs. Thatcher’s aides, Charles Powell, later recounted, “her appetite seemed mysteriously to fade as the German leader went back for seconds and thirds” and, after boarding her plane home, “Mrs. Thatcher threw herself into her seat, kicked off her shoes and announced with the finality which was her trademark: ‘My God, that man is so German.'” | As one of Mrs. Thatcher’s aides, Charles Powell, later recounted, “her appetite seemed mysteriously to fade as the German leader went back for seconds and thirds” and, after boarding her plane home, “Mrs. Thatcher threw herself into her seat, kicked off her shoes and announced with the finality which was her trademark: ‘My God, that man is so German.'” |