THE GUARDIAN: German chancellor insists UK is still a key player in the EU and is 'more pro-European than some other countries'
At an event for European students in Berlin on Tuesday night, Merkel said the EU must work closer together on political as well as economic matters, specifically in developing a European defence policy.
"You can still have many dreams," she told a student who asked if she had a "European dream" to restore trust in those who had lost trust in the EU. "I think that, for example, we are going to have to work a lot closer together on defence policy," she added, going on to outline areas which needed attention.
"We have a few EU countries which are not in Nato, which raises lots of question marks. We are doubling, even tripling up on some resources," she said, acknowledging Germany was often the roadblock on decisions about deploying troops to a conflict zone because German law requires the parliament to vote on such matters.
The meeting's moderator, Financial Times journalist Quentin Peel, made reference to the venue, the Neues Museum redesigned by British architect David Chipperfield. It was a shame, he mused, that there were not more British "architects" involved in shaping Europe's future.
But Merkel insisted Britain was still a key player in Europe. Britain is "very serious" about the single market, she said. » | Helen Pidd in Berlin | Tuesday, February 07, 2012
