Britain faces tension over push for less EU control

PARIS (AP) – European Union officials welcomed a French-German push for closer cooperation among the countries that use the euro, while British Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said that won’t derail his mission to reduce EU involvement in national affairs.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Tuesday that the Franco-German idea is “key” to efforts to strengthen the eurozone. Newspaper Le Monde reported that French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel submitted a letter to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker over the weekend calling for closer decision-making among eurozone members.

Cameron, meanwhile, is visiting European capitals this week to try to reduce centralized EU control, notably over policies such as migration and welfare.

Cameron’s official spokesman, Jean-Christophe Gray, said Franco-German discussions about the eurozone shouldn’t affect Cameron’s discussions this week. Britain does not use the euro.

The conflicting initiatives are not necessarily mutually exclusive. But they do highlight a fundamental cross-Channel rift, with Britain ever more reluctant to throw in its lot with the other EU nations under the leadership of juggernauts Germany and France.

And Cameron may be acutely aware that in the past it has often proved next to impossible to reverse a proposal that Berlin and Paris jointly put forward to be discussed at the June 25-26 summit of EU leaders.

“The Franco-German contribution is useful, pertinent, important, key, I would say, in this process,” Schinas said.

Cameron already announced last week that there would be a rough road ahead to achieve the EU reforms needed to keep his country from leaving. Cameron has promised a referendum on whether to remain in the EU before the end of 2017. If there is no EU deal, he has indicated there could be a potential British exit from the bloc, the dreaded “Brexit.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said Tuesday that change could be implemented if Britain limits its proposals to issues that would not force any changes in the EU treaties, which have proven notoriously tough to amend.

“I believe that there are many areas where you can make significant progress for the EU without treaty change,” he said, adding there was room for compromise. “There are things we all need to worry about. So I don’t believe we should reject ideas just because they come from Britain.”

Cameron will be visiting Merkel and Hollande late this week, with the French and German leaders having a meeting in Berlin next Monday, likely with Juncker also in attendance.