27th Feb 2014 14:55
London (Alliance News) - Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday dampened British hopes of gaining her outright support for reform of the European Union, in the first speech by a German leader to both houses of Parliament in nearly three decades.
Merkel said those who hoped her speech would "pave the way for a fundamental reform of the European architecture which will satisfy all kinds of alleged or actual British wishes ... are in for a disappointment."
The hopes of others who wanted the chancellor to give the clear message that the rest of the Europe was not prepared to pay "almost any price" to keep Britain in the EU "will be dashed too," she said.
She was "caught between the devil and the deep blue sea" on the subject, which was "not a pleasant position to be in," Merkel continued in English, before switching to German for the main part of her speech.
Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU and then hold a referendum on his country's membership, if he is re-elected next year.
He sees the support of the leader of the largest EU economy as key, and the welcome extended to Merkel on her one-day visit was much warmer than that of French President Francois Hollande a few weeks back.
Cameron held talks with Hollande at an airbase and then took him to the pub. The French president said treaty change was "not a priority" for Paris.
By contrast Merkel was not only given the rare honour of the parliament speech, but also had lunch with Cameron at Downing Street and was to meet Queen Elizabeth II for tea at Buckingham Palace.
The last German leader to address both houses of parliament was president Richard von Weizsaecker in 1986.
Cameron later tweeted that Merkel's speech was "excellent."
Merkel did offer the prospect of some limited support for reform, but she failed to put forward any concrete proposals.
Referring to her happiness as a former East German when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, she said: "I am a personal witness to the possibility that change, and change for the better, is possible."
"Unnecessary red tape" from Brussels - a source of deep irritation for many British businesses - should be reviewed and scrapped as necessary, she said.
But she also appeared to rebuff British concerns over free movement within the EU, telling her audience that "a Europe without borders is one of the greatest achievements of European unification."
"All member states, all citizens benefit from this," she said, though she did acknowledge that "mistakes" should be rectified.
Merkel made it clear that she wished Britain to remain in the bloc, praising Britain as an "important ally" in making the EU "a better place."
"We need a strong UK with a strong voice inside the EU," she said.
"Our ideas of how the future EU ought to look like may vary on the details but we, Germany and Britain, share the goal of seeing a strong, competitive EU join forces."
Noting that 2014 is the centenary of the beginning of World War I and the 75th anniversary of the start of World War II, she paid tribute to those who served in both wars.
The chancellor said that European unification, including the Franco-German alliance and the 28-member EU now seemed "almost like a miracle."
Commentators noted that since Cameron has not yet himself laid out concrete demands for reform - beyond the repatriation of some powers from Brussels and safeguards for Britain as the eurozone pushes for deeper integration - he could not have expected more from her speech.
"The German position has been as clear as it could be given the vagueness of David Cameron's demands ahead of his proposed EU referendum," said Thomas Raines, an EU expert at the think tank Chatham House.
Copyright dpa