The German and British economies form “the beating heart of Europe”, George Osborne has said before a trip to Berlin as part of the government’s effort to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the EU.

The chancellor will hold talks with the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, and the vice-chancellor , Sigmar Gabriel, in Berlin on Monday. Osborne said he would use the trip to set out more details of the UK’s bid to renegotiate its EU membership.



The chancellor described the UK and German economies as “the beating heart of Europe” and “the engine for growth and jobs”. “Together we make the world’s third-largest economy, behind only America and China and, since the crisis ended, we have generated two-thirds of EU growth,” he said.

“But the future holds challenges for our economies. We must cut debt and boost productivity. To do this, we need a strong EU, fit for today’s challenges and working for the benefit of all 28 member states. The UK’s reform and renegotiation plans aim to achieve this, which is why these talks with key partners in Europe are so important.”

As well as visiting a Siemens factory in Berlin, Osborne will address an audience of German business leaders at the annual conference of the BDI, the Federation of German Industries, the equivalent of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in the UK.

Osborne’s Berlin visit is the latest in a long line of trips by the prime minister and the chancellor to see other EU leaders to discuss a new relationship for the UK and Europe before the in/out referendum by the end of 2017.

Last week, a spokesperson for the prime minister confirmed that a letter outlining the reform plans was likely to be sent to European council president Donald Tusk during the week starting 9 November. Cameron’s demands will be formally debated for the first time by the EU’s 28 leaders at an EU summit in Brussels in mid-December.

Although it is understood that the letter will not go into great detail about how Cameron’s proposals should be implemented, it is expected to demand that the agreed package is a legally binding commitment from other EU leaders.



Cameron’s demands are expected to include:

Forcing Brussels to make an explicit statement that Britain will be exempted from the EU’s founding principle of an “ever closer union”.

Requesting an explicit statement that the euro is not the official currency of the EU.

Restructuring the EU to prevent the nine countries that are not in the eurozone being dominated by the 19 member states that are.

Creating a new “red card” system to allow national parliaments to stop and scrap unwanted EU directives.

Demanding that Britain is able to ban EU migrants from claiming in-work benefits for four years.



On Sunday, the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, said he would be delighted if the home secretary, Theresa May, wanted to lead the official campaign for Britain to leave the EU.

May did not respond directly when asked whether she would consider such a role, but refused to rule out backing a British exit. Farage was responding to a Survation poll, commissioned by the cross-party Leave.EU campaign, which suggested that the public thought May would be the best choice to lead the official out campaign.