Does she have a point?

[Mich the Tester]

Evidence please

Well if you were to read Dutch quality dailies and view the German media regularly, as I do, and as I'm sure Darmstadt does, you'd see plenty of evidence. That's perhaps why both Darmstadt and I see this differently; we see what's really going on here, instead of what Mr Farage, the Telegraph and the Mail tell people.

Here's an example though, the words of Mrs Merkel yesterday on visiting Downing Street;

BBC News - Angela Merkel: EU reform not 'piece of cake'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she can work with the UK to reform the European Union but it will not be "a piece of cake".

(stating the obvious there, but certainly not saying she doesn't want reform and in fact hinting very strongly that she does; she's under pressure from the moderate right in Germany to reform)

Following a Downing Street meeting with Prime Minister David Cameron, she said both countries could bring in laws to restrict benefit tourism, as part of "overall European cooperation".

At the Downing Street press conference, Mr Cameron said he and Mrs Merkel "both want to see changes in Europe".

Mrs Merkel said the UK and Germany could pass laws to limit this problem, saying: "Where there's a will, there's a way."

However, speaking of changing the EU, she said: "It is not a piece of cake. It is going to be hard work."

Obviously it will be hard work; Mrs Merkel is not afraid of hard work and I think she knows that Cameron isn't either.

"Some expect my speech to pave the way for a fundamental reform of the European architecture which will satisfy all kinds of alleged or actual British wishes. I am afraid they are in for a disappointment.

hmmm, of course you can never satisfy all wishes in a negotiation but then she went on to say;

"Others are ...hoping that I will deliver the clear and simple message here in London that the rest of Europe is not prepared to pay almost any price to keep Britain in the European Union. I am afraid these hopes will be dashed."'

In other words; she is prepared to go a long way to keep Britain in Europe, whether the rest of the EU likes that or not.

She told the UK's gathered political leaders the EU had to become stronger, saying: "In order to attain this goal we need a strong United Kingdom with a strong voice inside the European Union.
"If we have that, we will be able to make the necessary changes for the benefit of all."

Now, you might not agree with everything she says and it might not go far enough for you; she's setting out a negotiating position a bit like you and I do when we negotiate rates and contract terms, but does this really sound to you like an unreasonable person who is opposed to change and doesn't want to negotiate a way forward? Doesn't look that way to me.

Also, you would be right to point ouot that I've only shown the words of the chancellor of Germany; I don't have the time to trawl up more for you, but remember that Angela Merkel and David Cameron are almost without doubt the two most powerful people in Europe right now and they're both serious about change.

[DodgyAgent]

The EU benefits Germany hugely especially the Euro. The Euro has kept the price of German goods disproportionately low and it has eradicated price competition from the rest of Europe. its agenda for any reform will be entirely different from that of Italys, Greece the UK or anyone else.
Mitch your comments are based on the assumption that each country wants the same reforms. They do not. The UK wants freer markets, the French want to protect their markets and keep the main functions of the state in government control. How on earth does this get reconciled "from within"?

Furthermore Angela Merkel will not be in power for very much longer. The people who run the EU do so motivated by a desire to strengthen their own positions. These people have been around for a very long time and will remain in place longer than the leaders of the governments of the member states. They will see off any attempts to reform them.

There is a lot of talk about reform but no sign of any action. What I do see is that the stronger these people become the less accountable they are the more likely we are to see anarchy on the streets of Europe.

[Mich the Tester]

The EU benefits Germany hugely especially the Euro. The Euro has kept the price of German goods disproportionately low and it has eradicated price competition from the rest of Europe. its agenda for any reform will be entirely different from that of Italys, Greece the UK or anyone else.
Mitch your comments are based on the assumption that each country wants the same reforms. They do not. The UK wants freer markets, the French want to protect their markets and keep the main functions of the state in government control. How on earth does this get reconciled "from within"?

Furthermore Angela Merkel will not be in power for very much longer. The people who run the EU do so motivated by a desire to strengthen their own positions. These people have been around for a very long time and will remain in place longer than the leaders of the governments of the member states. They will see off any attempts to reform them.

There is a lot of talk about reform but no sign of any action. What I do so is that the stronger these people become the more likely we are to see anarchy on the streets of Europe.

Of course not every country wants the same reforms; that's why you negotiate. As for Germany wanting to keep the price of their goods disproportionately low, well, for a start they don't need to do that for a lot of their goods because they're selling on quality rather than price, and secondly, that would be a lot easier if they returned to the Deutsch Mark and did a bit of money printing to devalue the currency. Really, the euro is a hell of a lot of faffing about just to devalue. Of course, Germans are understandably allergic to hyperinflation, so they won't devalue and anyway, you'd need an almost impossible devaluation to make a BMW cheaper than a Dacia.

And yes, Mrs Merkel will move on and the CDU will have to select a new leader; I wish I could give you the hard evidence, but I know people in the CDU and from what they're telling me, they ain't looking for some Westerwelle type who loves everything about the EU: they want someone along the same lines as Merkel, fiscally conservative, business friendly and strict on the finances. Even a lot of people in the German labour party have similar views, although it's a damn good thing some of their real lefties have buggered off to the 'Linke' party.

[vetran]

it all sort of sounds like lip service. As DA pointed out unless there are forces making large organisations reform little will happen. They will also make the most stupid decisions because of personal benefit.

The uproar about open borders is now making them reconsider it, people pointed out it was a stupid idea .Handing out housekeys to all your neighbourhood without vetting them is patently stupid but that is what they did.

I would consider a movement zone with harmonised Visas which is entirely possible. We could then continue managing immigration as we did before but with a presumption that EU nationals would be granted a Visa more readily than other nations, criminals and those with no intention of working would be refused. ILR would be much more difficult to obtain.

The referendum is making the EU afraid they will lose their gravy chain. If it didn't exist they would carry on as before.

[Mich the Tester]

it all sort of sounds like lip service.

How very easy; it really doesn't matter what the Chancellor of Germany says; you just choose to disregard her words and call them 'lip service' instead of either dealing with the content of what she's saying or seeing that she's thinking along quite similar lines to many people in Britain.

[vetran]

How very easy; it really doesn't matter what the Chancellor of Germany says; you just choose to disregard her words and call them 'lip service' instead of either dealing with the content of what she's saying or seeing that she's thinking along quite similar lines to many people in Britain.

I was always told judge a man (Wyf or Wer) by what he does, not says.

They did the poles and saw the issues with that, then they followed up with the Romanians a few years later. they could have actually done something in the meantime rather than making the same mistake over & over again.

Of course they might be for real but I try not to trust the words of any politician. Maybe you believe in the tooth fairy?

so yes lip service! Not easy but reality.

[Mich the Tester]

I was always told judge a man (Wyf or Wer) by what he does, not says.

They did the poles and saw the issues with that, then they followed up with the Romanians a few years later. they could have actually done something in the meantime rather than making the same mistake over & over again.

Of course they might be for real but I try not to trust the words of any politician. Maybe you believe in the tooth fairy?

so yes lip service! Not easy but reality.

Erm, the Germans actually delayed free migration of eastern Europeans; they restricted the entrance of Polish and then Romanian workers until the German labour market needed them and until they'd worked out how to deal with the issues. Britain could have done that too but Tony B Liar thought better of it and then blamed the problems on EU agreements 'he couldn't get out of', which predictably was complete and utter bollocks. My goodness, you're actually falling for Tony's lies here.

[vetran]

Erm, the Germans actually delayed free migration of eastern Europeans; they restricted the entrance of Polish and then Romanian workers until the German labour market needed them and until they'd worked out how to deal with the issues. Britain could have done that too but Tony B Liar thought better of it and then blamed the problems on EU agreements 'he couldn't get out of', which predictably was complete and utter bollocks. My goodness, you're actually falling for Tony's lies here.

no I'm not, but having the Poles come early when people asked to delay the Romanians CMD and Europe could have delayed but didn't.

Tony wanted cheap labour, we saw what it did and then have done the same with the Romanians.

I don't blame CMD or Merkel for the Poles, that is B'liar's fault. but that is not the point, maybe read my posts more carefully next time?

My point was the latest wave will have been approved when your power house politicians who having been at the head of Europe for years now 'want' (make noises about) to revise its whole ethos because they realise they are in danger of being kicked out.

Actions not words!

[doodab]

The Euro has kept the price of German goods disproportionately low and it has eradicated price competition from the rest of Europe.

This is utter bobbins. I buy a lot of German goods. I buy them because they are the best I've found, not because they are cheap. In fact, they tend to be among the more expensive in any market segment.

[mos]

They did the poles and saw the issues with that, then they followed up with the Romanians a few years later. they could have actually done something in the meantime rather than making the same mistake over & over again.

Quit describing me as "pole" while you are repetitively obsessing over Polish minority. Also let me remind you, that the entire EU migration over the last 10 years accounted for only a fifth of the total 'net migration'. I gather that you do not consider exponential increase of the migration from outside of the EU to be a 'mistake', but it does not imply that the moniker 'pole' is in order.