By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent
David Cameron will attempt to win the backing of German Chancellor Angela Merkel for his plans to cut EU migration when she visits London.
He will set out his demands for renegotiation of Britain's EU membership prior to a referendum which he said last weekend he would hold in 2017 or sooner.
Before talks at Downing Street and a joint news conference, the two leaders will take a tour of an exhibition on German history at the British Museum.
The exhibition, titled Germany: Memories of a Nation, includes a Gutenberg Bible, an Iron Cross and the inscription from the gates of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Officially, the visit is part of preparation for a G7 summit in Bavaria in June, which the German Chancellor will chair, and so the global economy is set to dominate discussions.
But since it is their first formal meeting for several months, Mr Cameron will press the Chancellor on his bid to curb immigration from EU countries and axe benefits for migrants.
He faces a tough task, since she has made clear she will resist demands for wholesale renegotiation of EU treaties or challenges to the principle of free movement in the EU.
The scale of Mr Cameron's battle to win support from the Chancellor was acknowledged by the PM when he toned down a speech on Europe in November after she issued him with a warning.
She said she would not accept a re-writing of the founding EU principle, laid down in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, guaranteeing freedom of movement "for persons" as well as "services and capital".
She was also reported to have told the Prime Minister at a Brussels summit in October that he was approaching a "point of no return" after his tough language on immigration in his Tory conference speech.
Ahead of their Downing Street meeting, the Prime Minister and Chancellor Merkel issued the following joint statement: "As partners with growing economies, we must work with our European neighbours, G7 partners and others to secure the global recovery and to ensure that we come out of the financial crisis stronger than we were at the start.
"Our aim is to increase economic growth and create prosperity for our citizens and this will be the focus of our discussions today.
"In the G7, we will jointly address global issues including climate protection and lessons learnt from the Ebola crisis as well as other health issues."
And on Mr Cameron's demands for reform, they said: "At the same time, we must do more to make the EU more stable and competitive than it is today.
"We have both taken steps at home to consolidate our public finances and it is important that we continue to pursue this long-term plan.
"We must do more to harness the potential of the single market and reduce regulation that is hampering business."
Pat McFadden MP, Labour's Shadow Europe Minister, commenting ahead of the German Chancellor's visit, said: "Chancellor Merkel is publicly supportive of Britain's place in Europe, but on her visit to London she will no doubt reiterate to David Cameron that Germany is not willing to bail him out politically at any cost.
"Unlike David Cameron, Chancellor Merkel will not be driven by the need to pander to the Eurosceptics inside today's Conservative Party."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
PM To Seek Merkel's Support On EU Migration
Dengan url
http://eropaartikel.blogspot.com/2015/01/pm-to-seek-merkels-support-on-eu.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
PM To Seek Merkel's Support On EU Migration
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
PM To Seek Merkel's Support On EU Migration
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar