In what is likely to be his final tour of Europe as US president, Obama is having talks with Merkel, together with France's Francois Hollande, Britain's David Cameron and Italy's Matteo Renzi, with plenty on the agenda, but differences of opinion.
Obama will be keen press the case for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), an EU-US trade agreement that he has been pushing to close by the end of his presidency. Merkel is facing stiff TTIP opposition, with more than 25,000 people taking to the streets of Hanover at the weekend in protest at the proposed deal.
Many in Germany have criticized the secretive nature of the talks that will create the biggest trade area in the world. But critics say the deal will water down EU regulatory control over what people eat, drink and use for medicines. They say US companies will ride roughshod over EU regulations designed to protect its citizens.
Protesters having fun with "Obama & Merkel" in Germany:p pic.twitter.com/W1SXx9QEy3
— Anastasia Churkina (@NastiaChurkina) 23 April 2016
Moreover, the Investor State Dispute Resolution system — comprising separate tribunals — can be used by big business to sue governments who refuse to allow their goods to be sold, or put up barriers affecting their profits. There is major opposition to this aspect of TTIP in the European Parliament, which is likely to delay Obama's plans.
Syria
Second, there is discord over Syria. Merkel is warming to the idea of setting up "safe zones" within Syria, where foreign forces would protect civilians in some areas. She said:
"I believe that if you had followed what I said yesterday in Turkey, it is something that has to come out of the Geneva peace talks; it is not about classical safe zones."
However, Obama countered:
"As a practical matter, sadly, it is very difficult to see how it would operate short of us being willing to militarily take over a chunk of that country, and that requires a big military commitment."
Turkey
Turkey is proving to be an even more difficult subject, with Merkel leading an EU deal with Ankara to give Turkey US$6.75 billion over two years to support refugees within its border as part of a relocation scheme which will see "irregular migrants" from Greece returned to Turkey and — one a one-for-one basis — Syrian refugees accepted into the EU.
1 month of #EUTurkeyDeal today—& only 129 refugees have been relocated to N.Europe. RT if you agree this must change pic.twitter.com/1n0NWWLbzl
— IRC Intl Rescue Comm (@theIRC) April 20, 2016
There is already deep division over Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's record on human rights and media freedoms and the EU-Turkey deal has been branded immoral, inhuman and possibly illegal. Another aspect of disagreement is that Turkish citizens — under the deal — will have visa-free access into the EU — a part of the deal that has met with opposition throughout Europe.
How can EU cooperate with a country which does't respect international law? https://t.co/r5TAfNFE7M #EUTurkeyDeal pic.twitter.com/19TKuhbF5F
— ALDE Group (@ALDEgroup) April 20, 2016
Obama's critics say he is unaware of the massive impact the migrant crisis has had one Europe and many feel the US should take in many more refugees itself. In particular, US-Turkish relations have taken a turn for the worse, since the US is relying on an offshoot of the Kurdish PKK to support the Syrian Democratic Force (SDF) in the fight against Daesh also known as ISIS. Erdogan's forces are at war with Kurdish separatists.
With so many items on Monday's agenda, most commentators think the outcome will just be a gentle chat between Obama and the EU leaders. The full extent of their differences are many and nuanced and unlikely to be resolved in Hanover or soon.
