©AFP
German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble
David Cameron’s hopes for a far-reaching overhaul of
Britain’s relationship with the EU
were dealt an early setback on Tuesday when Germany said the UK’s
partners would not be rushed into changing the bloc’s treaties to meet
its reform demands.
In a sign of a broader distrust of London’s
motives, Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, also lashed out
at George Osborne’s “silly” and “unnecessary” record of intervening over
the
eurozone crisis. Many in Brussels believe London intentionally sought to undermine monetary union, Mr Schäuble noted.
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The
chancellor of the exchequer was given this sharp reminder of the uphill
task facing the newly elected Conservative government on the same
morning Mr Cameron was telling his cabinet he needed
treaty change to sell a new deal on Europe to the British public.
Mr Osborne, appointed London’s lead negotiator on Europe after last
week’s election, was told clearly by his German counterpart that Britain
would not be able to hitch its reform demands to a revamp of the
eurozone.
After discussing London’s ideas for reform with Mr Osborne on the
margins of the EU finance ministers’ monthly meeting, Mr Schäuble said
any reopening of treaties would not occur for some time. Changes to the
eurozone that Berlin is immediately seeking would be achieved “more step
by step”.
“The opinion of the German government has always been that we need
treaty changes, whenever, the sooner the better,” Mr Schäuble told
reporters after the meeting. “But the realistic assessment of the German
government is that it is not at all certain that this can be achieved
quickly.”
British officials said Mr Osborne’s private talk with his German
counterpart were more upbeat and noted Mr Schäuble publicly agreed
common ground for EU reforms could be found.
Mr Cameron has vowed to schedule an in-out
referendum on EU membership by
2017 and a spokesman said he would accelerate the timetable for the
vote if possible. The prime minister is planning a series of bilateral
meetings with EU leaders in the coming weeks ahead of a June summit in
Brussels, where he intends to launch his renegotiation effort.
British officials had hoped to append their renegotiation to moves
towards greater political and fiscal integration among eurozone members,
often arguing from the sidelines that the single currency would be
doomed without it.
The diverging views between London and Berlin set up a
potential showdown at the June summit, where a new eurozone reform plan,
in the works for months, is due to be presented to EU leaders.
“Sherpas” representing all 28 EU prime ministers, including Mr
Cameron, have been meeting privately in Brussels on a monthly basis to
hammer out the eurozone reform plan, which has been championed by Mario
Draghi, the European Central Bank chief.
But according to a five-page “note for discussion” distributed before
last month’s meeting, and obtained by the Financial Times, treaty
change is not among the topics currently under consideration.
“My conviction is that if we cannot complete these things [eurozone
reforms] in an orderly way [we will have problems],” Mr Schäuble said.
“What it’s about is defending and making relevant the structure of the
European currency union.”
As he arrived for the Brussels meeting, Mr Osborne sought to cast
Britain’s renegotiation as beneficial to both the UK and other European
countries. “We come here with a very clear mandate to improve Britain’s
relationship with the rest of the EU and to reform the EU so that it
creates jobs and increases living standards for all its citizens,” he
said.
Ministers involved in the closed-door discussion said Mr Osborne did
not bring the renegotiation up during the main round-table debate,
confining discussions to the session’s sidelines.
But Mr Schäuble was not alone in his scepticism. Hans Jörg Schelling,
the Austrian finance minister, belittled using an in-out referendum as a
way to overhaul Britain’s role in the EU.
“I think politicians have to act decisively,” said Mr Schelling, a
member of Austria’s main centre-right party. “When politicians believe
they have to ask the people, it’s an indication that they themselves are
not willing to make the decisions and carry the consequences.”
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