BRITAIN-EU Britain, France want a Europe that works better for both countries - Osborne

Record ID: 146171

  • Title: BRITAIN-EU Britain, France want a Europe that works better for both countries - Osborne
  • Date: 27th July 2015
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JULY 27, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER GEORGE OSBORNE AND FRENCH ECONOMY MINISTER EMMANUEL MACRON TALKING WITH MEMBERS OF HIGH-TECH STARTUPS VARIOUS OF OSBORNE LISTENING OSBORNE AND MACRON DESCENDING STAIRS, WALKING TO STAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English and French) BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER GEORGE OSBORNE
  • Embargoed: 11th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADUTKOOYVY1GGAJ9JFOY8C4P48
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: AUDIO AS INCOMING
    Britain and France agreed on Monday (July 27) that efforts by eurozone nations to shore up the single currency after the Greek crisis could go hand-in-hand with wider reforms the UK needs to stay in the European Union.
    Prime Minister David Cameron wants assurances that non-eurozone EU members such as Britain will not see their influence wane in the wider 28-country bloc as the eurozone integrates more, before he puts British membership of the EU to a landmark referendum by 2017.
    With the prospect of near-bankrupt Greece's exit from the zone narrowly averted for now, France and Germany have floated ideas to strengthen the 19-member currency union, for example with its own budget, "government" and parliament.
    French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, hosting British finance minister George Osborne, said a "fair set of rules" were needed to protect the interests of those outside the euro during a joint news conference with Osborne after the two visited a so-called "incubator" of French high-tech startups in Paris' trendy Marais district.
    Osborne said he wanted a Europe that works better for all citizens.
    "I want an Europe that works better for all its citizens. A Europe that functions better for both of us. And in order to achieve that it's got to be a European Union that is creating jobs, that is dynamic, that is not a obstacle to people making the most of their talents and opportunities, but actually supports that. And so the first thing we want to see is a Europe that is supporting business and job creation and wealth creation across the European continent for all its citizens. We also want to make sure that we have a European Union that works for the 28 members of the European union as well of the 19 members of the eurozone. And we have to make sure that the single currency and the single market are compatible and work alongside each other," Osborne said.
    Neither minister would be drawn on details of negotiations due to take place on the sought-after reforms or the timetable of a possible referendum.
    Osborne said the timing would be determined by the substance of a possible accord with capitals such as Berlin and Paris, which have signalled they would prefer the question resolved before they hold national elections in 2017.
    "What we are interested is the substance of an agreement that works for all European Union member states that creates prosperity for the future of the European Union, a competitive European continent, a fair relationship as Mr. Macron puts it, to the non-Euro members in the eurozone as the eurozone integrates and addresses with sensitivity these public concerns about people coming to countries just to claim entitlement. There is an agenda there, which we can work positively on to make Europe work better for all the citizens," Osborne said, reaffirming the government's line.
    Britain is seeking a batch of reforms ranging from a streamlining of EU red-tape to measures to safeguard Britain's position as a global financial centre and more contentious ones including cutting welfare and in-work benefits to non-British EU citizens.
    With French and other officials having said that they would find it hard to accept anything that involved outright change of the EU's treaties, Cameron last month suggested that agreement to change treaties at a later date could be sufficient.
    Osborne was due to hold talks with Finance Minister Michel Sapin, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Prime Minister Manuel Valls while in Paris. Trips to other EU capitals to make the British case are planned in coming weeks.
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