New EU War of Words: German Politician Upsets British with Comments

The swipe aimed at Britain by Volker Kauder, a senior member of Germany's Christian Democrats, has caused trouble in United Kingdom, where the press says Berlin and London have fallen out over the euro crisis. Friday's meeting between Chancellor Merkel and Prime Minister Cameron could be tense

Volker Kauder is now a famous man in Great Britain -- but that doesn't necessarily mean the senior Christian Democrat is popular on the other side of the North Sea.

"Just looking for their own advantage and not being prepared to contribute -- that cannot be the message we accept from the British," Kauder said at the conference of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Leipzig on Tuesday, in reference to British opposition to a European Union-wide financial transaction tax favored by Germany. Although the United Kingdom is not in the common currency zone, as a member of the EU itself it "also carries a responsibility for the success of Europe," Kauder said.

Note EU-Digest: Mr. Kauder is right on target with his comments. Britain has never really been a reliable partner nation in the EU and is also the European center of the Euro-sceptics

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