Mr Cameron Takes on Europe!
According to The Times of 25 October, David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, faces his first test in Europe this week when Germany and France attempt to reopen the Treaty of Lisbon to shore up the embattled euro. He is attending a summit meeting in Brussels on 28 October and will oppose a 6% rise in the EU’s budget as well as arguing against new rules on maternity leave. France and Germany have proposed new rules on the regulation of derivatives, the long and the short of which will mean that control will shift from the City of London to Frankfurt – a move that will hurt the City.
And thus the battle lines are drawn and don’t you just love politicians?
France and Germany – and this is paradoxical, is it not, given that Great Britain lies outside the euro zone – desperately need Britain’s support to alter the Treaty of Lisbon’s provisions to enable them to put a plan in place to rescue the economies of Greece especially, but of Ireland and Portugal as well. From their perspective this might be regarded as priority number one.
Priority number two might be the 6% rise in the EU budget. I wonder if there is not a signal in the number. Is 6% a sighting shot? Would the EU commissioners accept a lower percentage increase? It will be very difficult for a British Prime Minister NOT to oppose an increase in the EU budget given the stringent budget cuts that have been announced in the United Kingdom this past week.
Maternity leave provisions and the control of derivatives – are these threats that have been brought to the table by the EU (and France and Germany in particular) that they might be prepared to concede in return for the other two? But are they enough of a sop?
Some thoughts and questions: