‘We will insist that the EU institutions — the court, the commission — that they work for all 27 nations of the EU.’ So said David Cameron, back in December, suggesting that he’d block Europe’s ‘fiscal compact’ countries from using EU-wide institutions to enforce their, er, fiscal compact. But now this component of his ‘veto’ appears to have come to naught, and that veto is looking all the thinner for it. On the Today Programme this morning, William Hague confirmed that Britain wouldn’t block the use of EU institutions, such as the court, for the fiscal union. ‘We’re not intending to take action about that now,’ is how he put it rather resignedly. And while Hague did go on to suggest that the government would take legal action should Britain’s interests be subsequently imperilled, the overall effect was to soften Cameron’s firm stance from before Christmas. This is, as Guido points out, a bit of an about-turn.
But why would Cameron turn things about after previously winning the plaudits of his backbenchers and, to a more mixed degree, the nation? An ‘EU negotiator’ gives the answer in the Telegraph. ‘The British have made it clear that they would not challenge the treaty before it is signed or before it enters into force,’ he says, ‘Britain is going to give the eurozone the benefit of the doubt so it can put its house in order.’ Which is to say, we don’t want to seem like the wrecking crew; the country that prevented Germany, France and all the others from reaching the solution of their dreams. A coalitionist tried to assure me earlier that this will not only help us now, by giving Angela Merkel the means to bolster Europe’s economy, but also in future, by giving us more space to fight on ‘the issues that really count’.
Little of which will placate the Tory backbenches, of course. But aside from their disgruntlement there are two other political details worth keeping an eye on. First, how Tory frontbenchers react. Iain Duncan Smith, who has previously voiced his discontent over Europe, yesterday emphasised that ‘the Prime Minister vetoed them using the institutions’ — so he’s probably been left feeling a little embarrassed and disappointed today. And, second, whether Labour look to fill the eurosceptic breach. Ed Miliband’s party are already threatening mischief over our IMF contributions, and there are certainly some among them who would like to go further.
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