Dutch PM Rutte warns France, Germany against ‘dictating EU reforms’

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Friday cautioned Berlin and Paris not to try to push through their ambitious EU reform plans against the will of other member states. Rutte believes deeper integration is not the answer to the bloc’s problems, telling Der Spiegel that countries would not just “nod along” to French-German proposals, particularly the eurozone. The warning came hours before German Chancellor Angela Merkel was due in Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who is eager to push his vision for an overhaul of EU institutions, AFP reported. “We have freedom of movement in the EU, and of course the German government can meet the French government without us being there,” Rutte said in an interview. “But that doesn’t mean that we and other EU countries agree with everything the Germans and French agree on.”