German, British leaders meet to tackle eurozone crisis

PanARMENIAN.Net - The German and British leaders meet Friday, November 18, amid tensions over efforts to resolve the eurozone debt crisis and the future of the European Union.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country has Europe's biggest economy, has been a leading player in efforts to resolve the 17-nation eurozone's crisis that have often been criticized as too hesitant.

British Prime Minister David Cameron travels to Berlin as Merkel seeks support for changes to European Union treaties that are meant to strengthen the eurozone but would need all 27 EU members' approval — a potentially long and messy process.

Cameron said last week that "if the leaders of the eurozone want to save their currency then they - together with the institutions of the eurozone - must act now."

Britain is a member of the European Union but doesn't use the euro. Cameron's party is deeply skeptical about European integration.

Merkel insists that there's no single quick-fix solution to the crisis. She has rejected the idea of jointly backed "eurobonds" and suggestions that the European Central Bank should step in with massive bond purchases to reduce the lending costs of countries such as Italy.

Merkel also wants to introduce a tax on financial transactions in Europe - an idea that has wide political support in Germany but, with prospects of a wider global agreement thin, cuts little ice with Britain.