Merkel to meet Cameron as EU budget row escalates

Chancellor of Germany will visit London next week after British MPs called for David Cameron to push for budget cut.

Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, is to visit the UK next week to hold talks with David Cameron, the British prime minister, to discuss widening divisions over the European Union’s long-term budget.

Merkel said that she would try her “utmost to find a solution” after several countries indicated that they would veto an agreement on the EU’s 2014-2020 spending plan.

The row is threatening to derail this month’s summit of the leaders of EU member states in Brussels on 22-23 November.

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Yesterday (31 October) Cameron lost a vote in the British parliament. MPs called for him to demand that the EU’s budget is cut in real terms.

Cameron had already risked isolating himself by saying that he would push for a spending freeze and would veto any agreement if he did not get it. The European Commission has proposed a 5% increase. 

Merkel, who was speaking after holding talks with Enda Kenny, the prime minister of Ireland, in Berlin today, said that any country threatening to use a veto “doesn’t help bring about a solution”.

“Next week I will have an opportunity to discuss the issue directly with David Cameron,” Merkel said.

All leaders must support the budget plan before it can take effect.

France and Denmark are among the countries that have also threatened to block an agreement.