Berlin not rushing to compromise over EU for Cameron's sake

David Cameron might have felt encouraged about engaging Berlin in his drive for big EU reforms after German chancellor Angela Merkel hailed the British premier's recent election victory as "simply great".

Yet the first post-election encounter between a top UK minister and his German counterpart suggests Berlin's co-operation in one of Mr Cameron's most delicate second-term undertakings is hardly assured. On the sidelines of a finance ministers' meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, George Osborne got short shrift from his tough German counterpart Wolfgang Schauble.

Specifically, Mr Osborne was rebuffed over a pitch for German support for changing EU treaties to enable the substantial reforms - notably, limiting free movement of labour - that Mr Cameron seeks. And he was given a dressing-down over alleged British efforts to talk down the euro, with Mr Schauble condemning Mr Osborne for his "silly comments" on eurogroup reforms.

As the EU's most influential member, Germany will be crucial to Mr Cameron's campaign. Its willingness to accommodate him may ultimately determine whether the UK remains in the EU or ends up leaving via a referendum the prime minister has promised to hold by the end of 2017.

While relations are cordial between the two leaders, the German public backs a firm approach to London. The country's political leaders are far more concerned with enhancing a crisis-strained eurozone than reopening the EU treaties to placate British conservatives.

Mr Cameron has misread Ms Merkel before: he failed to secure her backing last year to block Jean-Claude Juncker's selection as European Commission president. Relations between the Tories and her centre-right CDU/CSU bloc have been tense ever since Mr Cameron pulled his party out of the European Peoples party conservative grouping in 2009.

Norbert Rottgen, chairman of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee and a senior MP in Ms Merkel's conservative bloc, said that Germany should "make clear what is not realistic - treaty changes, including changes to the fundamental principles of the union, including the free movement of people."

He added: "We have to consider wider issues - the erosion of the EU's standing. We have problems with other countries including Greece and Hungary. France does not comply with the rules. So we must say [to the UK]: 'We can help you remain in the EU, but not in a way which will satisfy the eurosceptics."

German concerns are not just tactical. Coalition MPs fear the treaty changes that the UK seeks - such as restricting migration - would dilute the EU. Norbert Spinrath, who sits on the Bundestag EU committee for the SPD, Ms Merkel's coalition partner, says: "I don't think the image of the EU that David Cameron wants is possible. We are a big family in which there is solidarity as well as freedom."

He added: "We know Cameron wants to stay in the EU but he wants negotiations to change the EU. It must be made clear to him that there is no British special road. He cannot separate the EU from its values, or the economic union from the social."

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"I think there is a good chance of successful talks between Cameron and the chancellor," says Stephan Mayer, conservative head of the British-German parliamentary group. "It is important that Germany has an ally on economic policies which is a big country."

In a recent editorial, the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper suggested the UK could play a useful role in the broader goal of making the EU more competitive and efficient. "Europe should move towards Cameron, including on the controversial question of immigration," it said.

But Germans also see the difficulties of closing the gap between the expectations of Britain and its partners. Describing the Tory win as "bad news for Europe", Der Spiegel magazine predicted Cameron would be a weak prime minister held to ransom by his eurosceptic MPs.

German MPs say they want Britain, Germany and their partners to move quickly, so that the uncertainties caused by the Brexit question are lifted - and welcome Mr Cameron's push to bring forward his proposed membership referendum.

Yet speed requires rapid compromises, not least between London and Berlin. And if the meeting between Mr Osborne and Mr Schauble is any guide, compromise is not in the air.

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