Germany’s Merkel says EU reform not ‘a piece of cake’

PanARMENIAN.Net - 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", BBC News reports.

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".

Cameron said changes to the EU were "possible, achievable and doable".

Merkel addressed Parliament earlier - and later had tea with the Queen. She also had a meeting with Cameron in Downing Street, with a picture being released of the two of them chatting on the sofa in the Camerons' flat.

Cameron is keen to negotiate changes to the UK's treaties with the EU ahead of a promised referendum on whether the country should remain in the organization, which he wants to hold before the end of 2017. He regards Merkel as a key figure in achieving his aim and has organized several events to welcome the German leader during her one-day visit to London, including tea with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

At the Downing Street press conference, Cameron said he and Merkel "both want to see changes in Europe". He added that EU rules on freedom of movement needed to change to ensure people could not move from country to country to sign up for welfare payments.

Merkel said the UK and Germany could pass laws to limit this problem, saying: "Where there's a will, there's a way." She said freedom of movement was intended to allow people to work in different countries, not "having immigration into social systems".

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

Earlier, Merkel addressed both Houses of Parliament. She praised the "unparalleled success" of the EU free market - and the freedoms she said European integration had delivered - but stressed that "we need to change the political shape of the EU in keeping with the times".

She told the UK's gathered political leaders the SU 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."