Bundesbank boss urges Britain to stay in EU

Jens Weidmann, the President of the German Bundesbank, appealed to the United Kingdom on 23 July 2014 to stay in the European Union, saying membership of the bloc had given the country an economic lift and posed little threat to the City of London.

In a speech to business people and bankers in the City of London, Jens Weidmann broke the central bank's traditional silence on political questions, saying the European Union would benefit if Britain 'continues to make its voice heard'.

While noting former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's original Eurosceptic warning about the European Union, Weidmann sought to calm fears about a federal-style Europe, saying more centralisation of power was not necessary.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: The five routes to a Brexit: how the UK might leave the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/the-five-routes-to-a-brexit-how-the-uk-might-leave-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: Britain Outside Europe? Views from Germany, France, the US, Canada and Poland http://www.europeansources.info/record/britain-outside-europe-the-german-view/

Germany: Bundesbank: Press: Speeches, 23.07.14: Dr Jens Weidmann, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank . Speech German-British Chamber of Industry & Commerce Annual Dinner 2014, London, 23 July 2014 http://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Reden/2014/2014_07_23_weidmann.html

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