The Mad Men of Smith Square: A Lonely Battle To Save Europe in Britain
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Contempt for Europe is rising all across Britain, driven by politicians and media who blame Brussels, often absurdly, for everything from the declining economy to male impotence. A small group of pro-Europeans are waging a bizarre campaign against the country's agitated majority.

A group of men, all clad in dark suits, have gathered in a central London conference room to save Europe. They have responded to an invitation proclaiming that "the fight back begins" -- and the seriousness of the situation is reflected in their faces. It is late on a Wednesday afternoon a fortnight ago -- one week after British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that a referendum will be held on Britain's membership in the European Union. That has opened the door for the country to exit the EU, which is something that the men in this room want to prevent at all costs. Ever since the day when Cameron said it was time to "settle the question" of Britain's relationship with Europe, these men have had a mission.

The building in which they are forging their plans is Europe House -- a political flashpoint. Up until just a few years ago, this was the Conservative Party's headquarters. Margaret Thatcher once planned her attacks against Brussels here, and Cameron used to have an office on the premises. Now, the building on Smith Square houses the offices of the European Parliament and the European Commission. The mass-circulation Daily Telegraph has dubbed it the "propaganda headquarters." This should actually be a good place to defend the European ideal against its adversaries, but it's a lonely place -- the last bastion.

Fat, Battle, War

Not many people have come to the meeting, 150 perhaps, and they can all easily fit into the windowless room. Members of the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party are attending the event. This is a cross-party movement primarily of older men with thinning hair, and very few women. The event was organized by Peter Wilding, who now grabs the microphone. Wilding, who has the charisma of a brush salesman, is the director of the Center for British Influence through Europe, a newly founded group that is lobbying for Britain to remain in the EU. He shouts into the room: "Help us to win, help us to fight back."

He says he wants to assemble an "army of supporters" to fight Europhobia in Britain. Wilding's voice has the pitch of a general who has to lead his troops into a decisive battle. » | Juan Moreno and Christoph Scheuermann in London | Thursday, February 14, 2013

David Cameron Calls for UK Exemption from EU's 'Ever-closer' Union

THE GUARDIAN: Prime minister strikes at heart of the European project in speech setting out his plans for an 'in or out' referendum by 2017

David Cameron has outlined the scale of his ambition to transform the terms of Britain's membership of the EU by calling for the UK to be exempted from its founding principle: the creation of an ever-closer union.

In his long-awaited speech on the EU, the prime minister cast himself as a modern-day heretic as he pledged to challenge established thinking.

Speaking at the London headquarters of Bloomberg, Cameron confirmed plans to hold an in-out referendum after the next election but warned: "The biggest danger to the European Union comes not from those who advocate change, but from those who denounce new thinking as heresy. In its long history Europe has experience of heretics who turned out to have a point."

The prime minister said that nothing would be off the table when he puts forward demands for the repatriation of a series of powers to Britain if he wins the 2015 general election. A new settlement would then be put to voters in a referendum by the end of 2017.

"I believe in confronting this issue – shaping it, leading the debate. Not simply hoping a difficult situation will go away," he said.

The prime minister concluded by saying that he would campaign with all his "heart and soul" for Britain to remain in the EU if he succeeds in renegotiating its membership terms. "When the referendum comes, let me say now that if we can negotiate such an arrangement, I will campaign for it with all my heart and soul," he said.

But Cameron declined to be drawn on whether he would campaign for a no vote if he failed to secure changes in the negotiations. Read on and comment » | Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent | Wednesday, January 23, 2013


My comment:

The Conservatives under David Cameron are playing fast and loose with our future. They dream of re-creating England's past glory. But it's never going to happen, of course. It is becoming ever-clearer now that David Cameron is truly out of his depth. He is a man with little foresight, and still less charisma. If he thinks he is going to move the Europeans over to his way of thinking, he's got another think coming.

The way things are going, the Europeans will soon be telling us to "get on our bikes." Then the UK will find itself truly isolated: it won't have any pull at the top tables in Europe, and the Americans will shun us because we won't have any bargaining power there. Nice one, Dave!

I am old enough to remember a time when the UK was not in Europe; I am old enough to remember the referendum which took us into the club. Although it wasn't stated, anyone with any political savvy knew in his heart of hearts that it would lead to an ever-closer union. It wasn't rocket science. Further, I can add that the UK was an infinitely poorer place to live in. The selection of goods in the shops was as nothing by comparison with what we have today in the way of variety of continental foodstuffs. If you wanted continental foods, you'd have to travel to your nearest large town or city and pay a visit to the expensive, exclusive delicatessen to buy them, and even then the selection was severely limited by comparison with today. If you wanted to travel in Europe, you'd need your papers for different countries; if you were taken ill abroad, you wouldn't have access to local health services; if you wanted to work in a European country, you'd have to go through a great deal of red-tape (if it was even possible at all).

If this is the scenario that cast-iron Dave wants to re-create, then the man is a fool. It's a great shame that he isn't a little bit older. If he were, he'd be able to remember the status quo ante. It would do him a lot of good to have some idea of it. – © Mark

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Germans United in Regret over Britain's EU Stance
BBC: HANOVER, GERMANY: At a campaign gathering held by Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU) a garrulous man slapped me on the shoulder and asked, "How does this compare with your Conservative Party?" It was a knowing question, delivered with wink.

The CDU drive to get their man, David McAllister, re-elected to run the state government of Lower Saxony, is well funded, confident (despite the closeness of opinion polls) and united on the question of Europe.

There is no real dissent across the German political spectrum on the issues of integrating the European Union (EU) more closely, apart from on the extreme right.

Indeed talking to people across northern Germany during three days of filming, it is apparent that there is a broad degree of consensus both on the EU and on Britain's position within it - from the CDU election event we attended, to the floor of the Sennheiser microphone factory or from the Hamburg students' union.

Firstly, people express regret that, faced with the faltering of Germany's traditional EU partnership with France (socialist President Francois Hollande is too much the tax and spend type for Chancellor Angela Merkel and her CDU), that it is not possible to make common cause with the UK in the council chambers of Brussels.

From Ralph Brinkhaus, a local member of the German parliament, the Bundestag, to Christine Lemster, a chemistry student at Hamburg University, we heard a similar refrain - the UK and Germany ought to be natural allies, and it is too bad that they cannot unite around EU issues. » | Mark Urban, Diplomatic and defence editor, Newsnight | Monday, January 14, 2013

Leaving the EU Would Be an Economic 'Disaster', Ken Clarke Has Said
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Britain must stop having a "nervous breakdown" over Europe as it would be a economic "disaster" to leave the EU, Ken Clarke has said.

The Cabinet minister said any suggestion the UK could leave the EU is "damaging our influence" in the world.

Speaking on the BBC's Today Programme, he said he does not "remotely believe" the Prime Minister is planning to take Britain out of the EU, despite eurosceptic pressure from backbench MPs.

"We are going through a very curious stage in the national debate," he said. "In the last 20 years the country gets near to having a nervous breakdown on the subject every now and again. David Cameron assures the public, he’s always assured me, that he believes, as I do, that Britain’s place in the modern world has got to be in the EU.

"It would be a disaster for our influence in global political events. It would be a disaster for the British economy, if we were to leave the EU. It damages our influence in these great critical events of the moment if we keep casting doubt on our continued membership." » | Rowena Mason, Political Correspondent | Monday, November 19, 2012

Europe's Next Crisis: Britain Losing Allegiance to the EU

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Europe won the Nobel Peace Prize last week, but it comes at a time when the threat of the European Union splitting is considerable. Great Britain is turning away from the EU and the German government is allowing it to do so. In the future, Chancellor Merkel wants to forge ahead with projects London opposes.

David Cameron knows that if there is one thing that pleases his fellow party members, it's a rant against Brussels. At last week's Tory party conference in Birmingham, it didn't take long before the British prime minister had his audience in high spirits.

Cameron reminded his listeners of the negotiations with other European Union member states over the fiscal pact last December. "There were 25 people in the room, urging me to sign," he said proudly. "And still I said no." The reaction was predictable, with the delegates applauding enthusiastically.

The Tories had understood the message Cameron was trying to convey, namely that the government in London no longer has much in common with Europe. The British want to have no part of further integration on the continent, and they also want to withdraw from many areas of policy in which they have been involved in Brussels so far.

The new approach has sweeping consequences for the European Union. Cameron's stance has already prompted the Germans to rethink their approach. Chancellor Angela Merkel had long hoped that a permanent division of the EU could be avoided. She had repeatedly said privately that one should not give the British the feeling that they are no longer part of Europe, and that the door must be kept open for London. Those hopes have now been dashed. The German government is convinced that the Euro Group will be the core of a new, more deeply integrated Europe.

Each additional step toward closer cooperation in the euro zone deepens the rift within the EU. The Germans are also unwilling to wait for the British to come around in other areas, such as foreign and defense policy. Ironically, Europe threatens to split the year the EU is being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. » | Ralf Neukirch, Christoph Pauly, Christoph Scheuermann and Christoph Schult | Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan | Monday, October 15, 2012