Cameron hints at Coalition split on EU review

Yesterday the Prime Minister made a point of showing his backbench how very willing he was to listen to their concerns about the European Union. Today, as he gave evidence to the Liaison Committee, David Cameron made a point of suggesting his Liberal Democrat coalition partners are a little less willing when it comes to reviewing the EU’s powers. 

Asked when he would launch the balance of competencies review, which will examine the impact of EU law on Britain, the Prime Minister said: ‘I hope that we will be able to start the process before the summer, but we need to seek full agreement before we launch it.’ 

He added: ‘Some preliminary work has been done but there does need to be proper coalition agreement before full work goes ahead.’ That, in case you missed it, was a big hint that the Lib Dems are currently blocking the launch of the review. The Financial Times reported last week that Nick Clegg and other Lib Dems fear that the exercise will be a distraction. It will be interesting to hear what the Lib Dems have to say about whether they support the review when quizzed about it in public.

Cameron was at pains to make clear that he was optimistic that Britain would be successful in renegotiating its relationship with Brussels. ‘There is an understanding that change is coming,’ he said. ‘Change is going to need to accommodate different needs and I think if Britain puts its case responsibly and we explain we would like to remain part of the single market but we do have real misgivings about the status quo and as the eurozone integrates there should be possibilities for new settlements for other countries, I think that is a reasonable point to make.’

The Prime Minister’s other big revelation was that he ‘would be prepared to do what it takes’ when it came to protecting the UK’s borders from an influx of immigrants should the eurozone go into meltdown. ‘We obviously have contingency plans for all sorts of eventualities… the legal position is that if there are extraordinary stresses and strains, it is possible to take action to restrict migratory flows but obviously we hope that doesn’t happen.’

This evidence session was the latest stop on the Prime Minister’s campaign drive to win back some of those 100-plus MPs who expressed their frustration by signing the letter calling for legislation on a referendum. His message is: don’t worry, there’s a strong chance we can change a lot of those parts of the EU that you really hate and please focus your frustration on the Lib Dems, not the Tory leadership.