German president: Berlin does not seek to dominate EU

German President Joachim Gauck on Friday urged Britain to stay in the European Union and assured member states that Berlin does not seek to dominate the 27-member group. In a major policy address, the largely ceremonial head of state also said the EU was now stuck not just in financial woes but in “a crisis of confidence,” urging a rethink to strengthen the union. In a message to Britain, where conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has announced plans for a future EU membership referendum, Gauck said, “we want to keep you in.” “We need your experience as the land with the oldest parliamentary democracy, your traditions, your sobriety and your courage,” Gauck said in a speech at his Bellevue residence in Berlin quoted by German press agency ‘dpa’. He said Britain had in World War II helped to save Europe, and stressed that “it is also your Europe.” The president also addressed fears about the role of the reunified, economically powerful Germany in the EU, saying that no Berlin politician was seeking to rule by “diktat.” “More Europe, in Germany, doesn’t mean a German Europe,” he said. “To us, more Europe means a European Germany.” He apologised for those German politicians who amid the eurozone crisis had come across as cold and lacking empathy, calling them “the exception, not the rule.” Any politician’s dismissive comments about other EU members were “not just hurtful but politically counterproductive,” he said, without naming any politicians. He was speaking on the day the European Commission scrapped its own growth forecast and said the eurozone faces prolonged recession, with its economy set to shrink 0.3 per cent this year.