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| In Cameron and Merkel Visit, a Chance to Discuss British Role in Europe | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| BERLIN — David Cameron, the British prime minister, arrived here on Friday for what a German official called a “not purely routine” weekend visit that will include talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel aimed at demonstrating the close relationship between the two center-right leaders and a discussion of Britain’s future in the European Union. | BERLIN — David Cameron, the British prime minister, arrived here on Friday for what a German official called a “not purely routine” weekend visit that will include talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel aimed at demonstrating the close relationship between the two center-right leaders and a discussion of Britain’s future in the European Union. |
| Officials in Berlin and London said the meeting, which begins with dinner on Friday and will continue on Saturday with wide-ranging talks at an 18th-century country manor outside the German capital, is an indication of the strong relationship between the leaders. Issues to be discussed include European reform, the coming Group of 8 summit, Syria and Iran, said Ms. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert. | |
| Mr. Cameron, whose plan for a referendum on his country’s membership in the 27-nation European Union has set Britain further apart from continental Europe, was resuming a diplomatic overture that was interrupted earlier this week by the death of Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister. He was in Spain when she died on Monday, and he returned home to London for tributes. | |
| Both leaders will be accompanied by their spouses, a rarity for the intensely private Ms. Merkel, whose husband, Joachim Sauer, seldom attends events with her. Asked why the chancellor had decided to make the weekend into a family event, Mr. Seibert said she and Mr. Sauer had gotten to know the Cameron family during a visit to the British prime minister’s official country residence, Chequers, in 2010. The gathering “demonstrates how tight our friendship and partnership with Britain is,” he said. | |
| It has not always been so cozy. Mr. Cameron infuriated Ms. Merkel by removing British members of the European Parliament from the main center-right alliance there. She left him isolated at a summit meeting in 2011, when Mr. Cameron demanded concessions in exchange for supporting a German-inspired agreement on budgetary rigor. A new treaty signed by most other European Union nations went ahead without Britain. | It has not always been so cozy. Mr. Cameron infuriated Ms. Merkel by removing British members of the European Parliament from the main center-right alliance there. She left him isolated at a summit meeting in 2011, when Mr. Cameron demanded concessions in exchange for supporting a German-inspired agreement on budgetary rigor. A new treaty signed by most other European Union nations went ahead without Britain. |
| But the British government has since increased its efforts to court Germany, and in terms of protocol, this visit breaks new ground. While Mr. Cameron’s wife, Samantha, has accompanied him to Washington, this is the first occasion on which the couple’s three children have joined an official visit. Supporters and opponents of Mr. Cameron’s efforts to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the European Union agree that stronger ties between Britain and Germany will mainly be decided in Berlin. | But the British government has since increased its efforts to court Germany, and in terms of protocol, this visit breaks new ground. While Mr. Cameron’s wife, Samantha, has accompanied him to Washington, this is the first occasion on which the couple’s three children have joined an official visit. Supporters and opponents of Mr. Cameron’s efforts to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the European Union agree that stronger ties between Britain and Germany will mainly be decided in Berlin. |
| Mr. Cameron’s pledge in January to win powers back from the European Union, then hold a referendum on continued membership, increased fears that Britain — always skeptical about the idea of European unity — was heading for the exit. German officials said Britain could not “cherry-pick” the terms of membership, while France said the bloc was not an “à la carte” offering. | Mr. Cameron’s pledge in January to win powers back from the European Union, then hold a referendum on continued membership, increased fears that Britain — always skeptical about the idea of European unity — was heading for the exit. German officials said Britain could not “cherry-pick” the terms of membership, while France said the bloc was not an “à la carte” offering. |
| Part of Mr. Cameron’s task this weekend will be to try to “detoxify the cherry-picking narrative,” said Mats Persson, director of Open Europe, an organization that wants to loosen British ties with the European Union. | Part of Mr. Cameron’s task this weekend will be to try to “detoxify the cherry-picking narrative,” said Mats Persson, director of Open Europe, an organization that wants to loosen British ties with the European Union. |
| But the visit is important for Mr. Cameron mainly because his strategy is based largely on a calculation that Germany wants Britain to remain in the bloc and will help it get some of what it wants. “Germany is the key country,” said Mr. Persson, who argues that with Britain outside the European Union, France’s relative influence would increase, as would that of the southern “Club Med” nations, which tend to be less committed to free markets and budgetary rigor than their northern counterparts. | |
| “If Merkel loses Britain, then her game of politics of options — which she plays so well at home as well as abroad — will be undermined,” Mr. Persson said. “The question is the price that she will be willing to pay.” | “If Merkel loses Britain, then her game of politics of options — which she plays so well at home as well as abroad — will be undermined,” Mr. Persson said. “The question is the price that she will be willing to pay.” |
| From Ms. Merkel’s perspective, the meeting comes at a time when Germany’s traditional covenant with France is under strain, as its president, François Hollande, positions himself as the leader of Europe’s center-left. “Hollande has not built the relationship with her that he has with the southerners,” said one European official not authorized to speak publicly. “She can see that in discussions on the future of the E.U., she may need allies like Britain and the Nordic countries.” | From Ms. Merkel’s perspective, the meeting comes at a time when Germany’s traditional covenant with France is under strain, as its president, François Hollande, positions himself as the leader of Europe’s center-left. “Hollande has not built the relationship with her that he has with the southerners,” said one European official not authorized to speak publicly. “She can see that in discussions on the future of the E.U., she may need allies like Britain and the Nordic countries.” |
| Germany views Britain as an ally on central questions of global trade and free markets, as well as a proponent of globalization, which helps strengthen Europe’s overall position in a globalized world. It has stressed repeatedly that it would like Britain to remain in the union, but not at any price. | |
| Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform, another research institute based in London, said that there was possible common ground on reform of the union, but that the scope was more limited than many of Mr. Cameron’s supporters believe. | Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform, another research institute based in London, said that there was possible common ground on reform of the union, but that the scope was more limited than many of Mr. Cameron’s supporters believe. |
| “Germany really wants to keep the British in the E.U., but not to the point of allowing the British to opt out of more areas of policy or to repatriate more powers,” Mr. Grant said. | “Germany really wants to keep the British in the E.U., but not to the point of allowing the British to opt out of more areas of policy or to repatriate more powers,” Mr. Grant said. |
| Tobias Etzold, an expert on European integration with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said Germany would be reluctant to give in on the core values of European integration, a much stronger political idea on the Continent than in Britain. He warned that the push to go it alone, even if unsuccessful, could leave Britain isolated and weaken its position in Europe. | Tobias Etzold, an expert on European integration with the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, said Germany would be reluctant to give in on the core values of European integration, a much stronger political idea on the Continent than in Britain. He warned that the push to go it alone, even if unsuccessful, could leave Britain isolated and weaken its position in Europe. |
| “It is important that Great Britain understands that possible alternatives to full membership in the E.U. would hurt them more than it would hurt the remaining members,” Mr. Etzold said. | “It is important that Great Britain understands that possible alternatives to full membership in the E.U. would hurt them more than it would hurt the remaining members,” Mr. Etzold said. |
Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Berlin. | Alan Cowell contributed reporting from Berlin. |