Germany: Please stay, it’s no time to stray UK

For now, London and Berlin are allies, but this won’t last, writes Almut Möller

The World Today
2 minute READ

Only days before Britain’s European Union agreement was concluded in Brussels, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Prime Minister David Cameron were guests of the mayor of Hamburg at the Matthiae-Mahl, a sumptuous annual dinner which dates back to the 14th century.

Symbolism matters and one can hardly think of a better place than the proud city of trade to demonstrate a British-German Schulterschluss (closing of ranks). Germany needs allies in a European Union that has struggled to keep up with the pace of globalization.

The federal government has underlined that the Brussels deal was a substantive agreement touching upon issues of joint concern – such as enhancing competitiveness and fighting the abuse of social rights – while bringing greater clarity and fairness to areas of marked difference, in particular regarding the rights of the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of the eurozone.

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