Merkels geduld met Cameron raakt op
En dat zou wel eens consequenties voor het Britse EU-lidmaatschap kunnen hebben, aldus Der Spiegel:
Merkel was much more worried about a different development. For the first time, according to an assessment by the Chancellery and the Foreign Ministry, Cameron is pushing his country toward a “point of no return” when it comes to European Union membership — a point at which Germany would cease doing all it can to convince Britain to remain a member of the EU. Were Cameron to continue insisting on an upper limit for immigration from EU member states, Berlin sources said “that would be that.” Sources say that Merkel left no doubt about where she stands on the issue during a private meeting with the British prime minister on the sidelines of the recent EU summit. The sources said that the surprise bill from Brussels was hardly mentioned. […]
It seems doubtful that Merkel’s message has been sufficiently understood. Just days after he met with the German chancellor, a red-faced Cameron once again addressed the issue of immigration, this time venting his anger in the House of Commons. “The British people know we are making every effort to control migration,” he said on Oct. 29 in response to a question from Labour Party leader Edward Miliband. […]
Indeed, as Britain’s conservative government is rapidly approaching a red line, it looks from Berlin as though Cameron is neither willing nor able to apply the brakes. Should Cameron move to establish numerical limits on immigration from EU member states, “there will be no going back,” say sources in Berlin. First, they say, Cameron’s proposal would be torpedoed in Brussels by Germany and several other EU countries and then he would return home and lose the referendum on Britain’s exit from the EU.