The Prime Minister has got the headlines he was hoping for this morning with his tough talk about vetoing a new EU treaty if he doesn't win "safeguards" for the European single market and the City of London. But will this be sufficient to quell another rebellion by eurosceptic Tory MPs?
Let's start with the first of these safeguards. Given that Angela Merkel has decided that closer fiscal union within the Eurozone requires a change to the Lisbon treaty – and given that she would like that change to be endorsed by all 27 members of the EU – there's no question of the European single market not being safeguarded. After all, why would the 10 non-Eurozone members of the EU agree to treaty change if it wasn't? So that's a non-sequitur. Cameron is effectively saying he won't agree to treaty change unless Germany makes a concession on a point that's not in contention. It's like saying, "I will veto any treaty changes if Germany demands Britain returns the Elgin Marbles." It's a meaningless bit of sabre-rattling. (To read more, click here.)
