Wednesday

7th Jun 2023

Cameron defends EU veto amid accusations of isolating Britain

  • David Cameron's use of the EU veto has strained the governing Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition (Photo: University Hospitals Birmingham)

In a stormy parliamentary debate highlighting the fall-out with his coalition partner, UK Prime Minister David Cameron struggled to defend his EU veto arguing he had safeguarded financial services from extra regulation, despite Brussels claiming the contrary.

"I went to Brussels last week with one objective: To protect the British national interest and that's what I did," Cameron said Monday (12 December) amid loud outbursts from the opposition and some coalition members.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The cornerstone of Cameron's defence of his veto was that neither the French nor the German leaders accepted his demands for "modest, reasonable and relevant" safeguards regarding financial services.

He said that by opposing EU treaty change at 27 and forcing an inter-governmental treaty "outside the EU", any further regulation agreed among the 26 will not affect the City of London, Europe's financial powerhouse. "A treaty outside the EU cannot do anything that cuts across existing EU legislation," Cameron argued.

This, however, was contested not only by opposition MPs, but also by EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn who earlier that day warned London that it will not escape regulation by staying outside the fiscal treaty agreed at 26 after the British decision to stay out of it.

Labour leader Ed Miliband agreed that "existing EU institution will be used. It would be clearly ludicrous for the 26 member states to completely re-invent a whole canopy of institutions." He challenged Cameron to point out where the threat to financial services was.

"Far from protecting our interests, he has left us without a voice. How can you call it a veto when the others are going ahead without you? That's called losing," he said.

Pressed by his own backbenchers not to concede any further powers to Brussels or else face a referendum in Britain, Cameron had put party interests above the national interest of being part of the negotiations on a new treaty, Miliband said, noting that other countries are also reluctant to give away new powers but remain at the negotiating table.

Miliband also pointed to the absence in the debate of vice-premier and Liberal Democrat politician Nick Clegg, who on Sunday had expressed his "bitter disappointment" over the outcome of the summit.

Grilled by several MPs to talk about the rift in the coalition and reveal why Clegg had not shown up for the debate, Cameron only said that the coalition parties cannot always agree on everything. "I am not responsible for his whereabouts, but I'm sure he is working very hard."

Clegg later on told Sky News he could not have shown up alongside Cameron as he completely disagreed with the veto, but he played down talk of a coalition break-up: "The coalition government is here to stay. On Europe, what I’m going to do is this – build bridges, re-engage, and make sure that the British voice is heard at the top table in Europe."

No Thatcher

When asked by one of his own Conservative MPs how he was thinking of proceeding with what eurozone leaders and the other nine non-euro countries call an "objective" to incorporate the new treaty into EU law, Cameron repeated his argument that EU institutions will not be able to fully back this new arrangement which "cannot cut across existing treaties."

On the UK being marginalised from EU decision making, Cameron said his government is still able to have enough allies to push for an EU budget freeze and to play a leading role in defence policy.

But all his arguments foundered when asked why he did not live up to the standards set by his Conservative predecessors Margaret Thatcher, who signed up to the Single Market Act and negotiated the British rebate, or John Major, who agreed to the Maastricht treaty with several opt-outs.

"I couldn't get a treaty with the necessary safeguards that's why I had to say no to it," Cameron admitted.

As for the actual time spent on discussing and preparing the summit with other leaders, the British Prime Minister said he went to Berlin three weeks ahead of the European Council and to Paris on the week before and had phone conversations with other leaders.

"There were good prospects for a deal, clearly they would have wanted a deal at 27. But they didn't want to give the safeguards - which were rational, reasonable and relevant - so I had to say no," he insisted, adding that leaders need to say no from time to time to make their negotiations credible.

UK left out as 26 EU countries to draft new treaty

A group of 26 EU member states is to forge ahead with an agreement on tightening economic governance in the eurozone, following a summit in Brussels that saw the UK sidelined after it overplayed its hand. (Updated 1.30pm Friday).

British deputy PM: EU veto is 'temporary'

British deputy leader Nick Clegg has predicted the UK will drop its veto on the EU fiscal compact, but urged Brussels not to go too far with reforms.

Britain blames euro for triple-A warning

The British government has blamed the euro for ratings agency worries on its triple-A status amid a widening political gap between Brussels and London.

UK better off in EU for now, says eurosceptic think tank

The UK would be better off staying in the EU than leaving it, the country's foremost eurosceptic thinktank has said. But London should use "likely" new treaty discussions to negotiate more beneficial EU membership terms.

Column

In 2024, Europe's voters need to pick a better crop of MEPs

At 2024's European Parliament elections, the stakes will be very high. A lot has happened in the last four years. In 2019, there was no pandemic, no war in Europe and no johnny-come-lately countries demanding a seat at the table.

Latest News

  1. Israeli settlers encircling Jerusalem, EU envoys warn
  2. No clear 'Qatargate effect' — but only half voters aware of EU election
  3. Part of EU middle class 'being squeezed out', MEP warns
  4. Migration commissioner: Greek pushback film 'clear deportation'
  5. In 2024, Europe's voters need to pick a better crop of MEPs
  6. ECB president grilled over €135bn interest payout to commercial banks
  7. EU political ads rules could be 'hotbed for retaliatory flagging'
  8. Final steps for EU's due diligence on supply chains law

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us