Thursday, 24 November 2005German Chancellor Angela Merkel is visiting the UK for talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair that are expected to focus on the EU budget dispute.
Mrs Merkel was sworn in as Germany's first woman chancellor on Tuesday.
On a brief visit to Paris and Brussels on Wednesday, she stressed the need for a more constructive approach to solving Europe's common problems.
Her London trip is set to focus on a row over the EU budget that has pitted the UK against France and Germany.
The UK, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, is eager to reach a deal over the budget by the end of the year.
Earlier attempts to reach agreement have ended in stalemate, with the UK refusing to give up its sizeable EU rebate and France rejecting calls to scrap EU farm subsidies.
The BBC's European affairs correspondent ,William Horsley, says Mrs Merkel may well urge Britain to give up its multi-billion-euro rebate for the common good.
But she has also said the rebate is part of a whole set of problems affecting Europe's workings which, according to our correspondent, sounds like the basis for a future compromise.
Asked whether she regarded herself as a mediator in EU affairs, Mrs Merkel refused to be drawn, saying: "I see myself firstly in the role of representing German interests as chancellor."
Iraq issue
Mrs Merkel has voiced her support for liberal economic reforms in Europe, of the kind championed by Mr Blair but opposed by her predecessor as chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder.
Speaking in Brussels, she also echoed the US view that Europe's security concerns should be debated within Nato rather than the EU.
"Nato should be the place where people turn first with member states to discuss political issues," she said.
She called for closer ties with the US, but stressed she would stick to Germany's policy of keeping troops out of Iraq.
Mrs Merkel also reiterated German support for a European constitution, despite its rejection by voters in France and the Netherlands earlier this year.
'Difficult common history'
She began her day with a trip to Paris, making her the third consecutive German chancellor to make France the first stop abroad.
Speaking alongside French President Jacques Chirac, she said strong ties with France were vital for both countries and for the EU as a whole.
President Chirac greeted Mrs Merkel at his Elysee Palace residence, thanking her for making Paris her first destination as chancellor.
He described her visit as a sign of friendship despite a "difficult common history".
"This is not about ritual, it about a deep conviction that a strong relationship between Germany and France is both necessary and beneficial to Europe," Mrs Merkel said.
Mrs Merkel is Germany's first woman chancellor and the first chancellor to have grown up in the formerly communist eastern part of Germany.
BBC News
November 24, 2005 |
Thursday, 24 November 2005
BBC News
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