David Cameron will be warned that he risks creating an unstoppable momentum behind a "two-speed Europe", which would be dominated by France and Germany, if Britain demands too many concessions during the eurozone crisis.
In a series of meetings in Berlin and Brussels, the prime minister will be advised that Britain should table modest proposals next year when EU leaders embark on a small treaty revision to underpin the euro.
Cameron will have breakfast in Brussels with José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission. He will then meet Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European council, before flying to Berlin to meet Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.
Merkel, who said earlier this week that the eurozone crisis showed the need to create a political union in Europe, is pressing fellow EU leaders to agree to a narrow and quick revision of the Lisbon treaty. This is designed to place tougher fiscal rules for the eurozone on a legal footing.
Der Spiegel reported that Berlin would like the European Court of Justice to take action against eurozone members that break the rules. A six-page German foreign ministry paper, published by Der Spiegel this week, calls for "a ('small') convention that is precisely limited in terms of content" to present proposals "rapidly". These would then be agreed by all 27 members of the EU.
Merkel warned the prime minister at an emergency European council meeting in Brussels on 23 October that she would reluctantly have to side with France if Britain overplayed its hand in the negotiations. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, wants a treaty to be agreed among the 17 members of the eurozone, excluding Britain and the other nine EU members outside the single currency. » | Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Thursday, November 17, 2011
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