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Perilous
Times
UK isolated in Europe after summit veto
By Richard Carter in Brussels
AFP
December 10, 2011 5:10AM
Britain urged to rethink EU ties
Britain's dramatic use of its EU veto after years of threats has
left London more isolated than ever.
BRITAIN stands out in the cold in Europe after Prime Minister
David Cameron, facing rising euroscepticism at home, blocked EU
treaty changes at a summit designed to save the eurozone.
Initially able to count on Hungary, Sweden and the Czech Republic
as fellow naysayers, London has found itself completely isolated
by the end of the summit, with the other 26 EU nations signed up
to a pact for greater fiscal discipline.
Determined to safeguard the powerful City of London from EU
regulation, Mr Cameron overnight said he took a "tough but good"
decision to block changes to the treaty presented by Germany and
France as the best way to solve the euro debt crisis.
"I said before coming to Brussels that if I couldn't get adequate
safeguards for Britain in a new EU treaty then I wouldn't agree to
it. What is on offer isn't in Britain interests, so I didn't agree
to it."
A defiant Mr Cameron said the euro was the divisive factor.
"Britain is out of it and will remain out of it," he said.
While Mr Cameron later denied that Britain was excluding itself
from the EU, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said Britain was
isolated following the tense summit.
"Cameron made demands that were unacceptable, even to me," Mr
Monti said. "Britain has shut itself out. It will be in certain
isolation.
"It will have an impact on its influence and this displeases me
because it is good to have a counter-weight to countries like
France."
But European power broker Angela Merkel seemed more relaxed about
London's intransigence. "The British were already not in the euro
and in that respect, we are used to this situation," said the
German chancellor.
EU president Herman Van Rompuy said it was "unfortunate" that all
27 could not move forward together but added: "We will make the
best of it."
Mr Cameron's reluctance to sign up to a deal was due in large part
to pressure from both his own MPs and the right-wing press back in
Britain who have been urging him to hold a referendum on any
treaty change.
In October, Mr Cameron suffered the largest rebellion of his
premiership when 79 Tory MPs voted in favour of a referendum on
Britain's relationship with Europe.
On Thursday, several Tory MPs compared him to Neville Chamberlain,
the British prime minister who signed the 1938 pact of appeasement
with Nazi German leader Adolf Hitler.
The mass-selling Sun newspaper rolled out World War II
comparisons, with mocked-up pictures of Mr Cameron alternatively
as Chamberlain and "bulldog spirit" Winston Churchill.
The broadsheet Independent said Mr Cameron was "isolated," and
used cartoon imagery of him in wartime fatigues, waving the white
flag as a zeppelin in the image of German Chancellor Angela Merkel
approaches.
And Mr Cameron's actions have fuelled calls from eurosceptics for
Britain to leave the bloc entirely.
One tricky issue thrown up by the British "no" is whether the
grouping of the other 26 can use the EU institutions -- such as
the European Commission and the European Court of Justice -- to
serve its aims.
"We will insist that the EU institutions, the court and the
commission, work for all 27 nations of the EU," Mr Cameron said.
A leading British member of the European parliament from the
Liberal group, Andrew Duff, bemoaned Mr Cameron's decision, saying
it would actually be "hugely damaging to the British national
interest."
"It is perverse to blame other countries for not wishing to
cooperate with the UK, when it is the UK which has opted out of
the euro and so many other aspects of life in the European Union,"
said Mr Duff.
Analyst Sony Kapoor from the Redefine think-tank said it was a
"sad day for British diplomacy".
"Mr Cameron overplayed his hand and his bluff was called... no
matter what happens now, the UK has isolated itself and lost
critical influence for no gain whatsoever," said Mr Kapoor.
But Foreign Minister William Hague denied Britain would be shut
out after the summit and hit back at claims London's stand would
lead to a multi-speed Europe.
"One could debate who would move at a faster speed, and certainly
no one should make the assumption that the eurozone moves at a
faster speed than the United Kingdom," Mr Hague told BBC radio.
Some eurosceptic commentators appeared proud of Britain's
isolation.
A blog on the anti-European Daily Telegraph newspaper said: "If
'isolated' means staying well clear of the clumsy and ultimately
undemocratic eurozone project, that's a damn good place to be."