Merkel warns against sidelining Britain in EU

By Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned in a speech in parliament on Wednesday against ignoring the views of Britain on European issues despite differences with London over who should become the next president of the European Commission.

Speaking in the Bundestag ahead of a meeting of Group of Seven (G7) leaders in Brussels, Merkel said she was actively pressing her European counterparts to support the candidacy of Jean-Claude Juncker for the top European Union job.

But she also made clear that states with doubts about the former Luxembourg prime minister needed to be heard out and she sharply criticised German politicians and media who have urged her to ignore British concerns and ram through Juncker.

"We all know the reservations of some member states, for example Great Britain. To be clear, I do not share these reservations," Merkel said.

"But I also want to be clear that I find it grossly negligent, really unacceptable, the way some people are saying they couldn't care less whether Britain agrees, or even whether it remains a member of the European Union or not. This is anything but irrelevant, unimportant or trivial," she added.

Juncker was the "Spitzenkandidat", or lead candidate of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) in last month's elections for the European Parliament.

But despite the fact that the EPP emerged as the strongest party group in the vote, it remains unclear whether he will get the Commission job, the most prestigious in Brussels.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, whose Conservative party is not a member of the EPP, has made clear he opposes Juncker. The leaders of Sweden, Hungary and Italy, among others, have also voiced doubts.

After Merkel offered surprisingly lukewarm support for Juncker at the end of an informal EU summit last week, she was slammed in the German press and by some domestic politicians for bowing to Cameron's wishes.

"It would be a farce if Europe allowed itself to be blackmailed by someone that doesn't understand Europe and agitates against its success in order to boost his national profile," Yasmin Fahimi, a senior member of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), said this week of Cameron.

BIG RISKS

The tug-of-war over the top job carries big risks for Cameron, Merkel and German-British relations.

If Juncker is appointed, the British prime minister would lose face at a time when he and his party are already reeling from the strong showing of the Eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) in the European election.

If the Luxembourger doesn't get the job, Merkel is likely to be pilloried at home for allowing Cameron and other leaders to undermine the democratic process, under which the top candidate of the largest party group was supposed to run the Commission.

In her speech, Merkel acknowledged that Britain was "not an easy partner" but said it had contributed a lot to Europe and shared common values and interests with Germany.

"Therefore I am also talking with Great Britain in the European spirit that has helped us Europeans time and again to get the best possible results for all over more than five decades," she said.

"Good results in Brussels that take all views into account have seldom been achieved in precipitous fashion. They require time and we have this."

Merkel is due to travel to Stockholm next week for a meeting with Cameron and two other Juncker sceptics, Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

European leaders have given themselves until late June to reach a deal on the top European Commission post. Their eventual nominee must win majority support in the European Parliament to be appointed.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Brown; Writing by Noah Barkin; Editing by Stephen Brown and Toby Chopra)