This Telegraph leading article is extraordinary in its indecision, vagueness and imprecise thinking. Its general drift and conclusions come near to what is needed.
The Times catches up with the news a day but ‘Better late than - - - -’.
So what options are open to Cameron. It would seem to most that he has three. [Here I precis the concusions of an article by David T Breaker on Conservative Home]
1. Hold an ‘In/Out’ referendum. We would almost certainly find the people voting to stay in if that was the choice
2. Start renegotiation. “This isn't really ideal as it would take forever, sour relations, be as boring as watching paint dry, and whatever we gained - and it wouldn't be much, probably more a gesture really - would only be given away again by a future Labour government”
3. Frame a positive referendum question of being in the European Union or in an alternative European Alliance, we could be onto something.
Christina
=================================
TELEGRAPH - Leader 19.9.09
David Cameron must be true to his word on Europe
Ruling out a Lisbon referendum does not relieve the Conservatives of their basic duty, which is to take back sovereign powers from an unelected, unpopular and inefficient European Union.
By Telegraph View
President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic was transformed this weekend from a Eurosceptic hero – "the last man standing", whose opposition to the Lisbon Treaty might save Britain from its tentacles – to something verging on a traitor. He has caved in, say opponents of the treaty; perhaps even been "got at" by EU threats to marginalise his country. President Klaus is now expected to sign the document, completing its Europe-wide ratification. And that means that the Lisbon Treaty will be in force when a future Conservative government comes to power (if it does).
To put it simply: Mr Klaus's signature makes the prospect of a British referendum on Lisbon vanishingly small. David Cameron made his position plain as long ago as June 2008, when he told an audience in Harlow, Essex: "We may have to say, well look, we're not happy with this situation, here are some of the powers we'd like to have back. But we can't give you that referendum on the Lisbon Treaty because it's already been put in place across the rest of Europe."
Commentators were suggesting yesterday [Were they? I certainly missed them. -cs] that the Tory leader is relieved that Mr Klaus has changed his mind. If the Czech president had managed to delay ratification of the treaty until a British general election, Mr Cameron would have had no alternative but to fulfil his promise to hold a referendum on Lisbon. He prides himself on being, above all, a man of his word. But he would also have been alarmed by the danger of his party tearing itself apart – not only over whether to vote no or yes to Lisbon but also over whether to interpret the referendum as a vote on British membership of the EU, which is how millions of voters would have understood it.
But ruling out a Lisbon referendum does not relieve the Conservatives of their basic duty, which is to take back sovereign powers from an unelected, unpopular and inefficient European Union. [That’s utterly woolly! -cs] They must do so, moreover, at the very moment when the rest of the EU's members are surrendering yet more sovereignty under a treaty that abolishes national vetoes and beefs up the powers of the European Parliament.
This is where Mr Cameron can demonstrate that he is indeed a man of his word, for he and his shadow foreign secretary, William Hague, have promised to increase our independence from Brussels. We need to know how they will do that, and soon: the EU's interference in British justice and domestic policy is now so overwhelming that some powers must be unilaterally repatriated. It will be the role of a future Conservative government to change our relationship with the EU; and if it takes a referendum of some sort to effect that change, then so be it.
=============================
THE TIMES 19.10.09
Dismay for David Cameron as Vaclav Klaus relents on Lisbon treaty
David Charter, in Brussels, and Francis Elliott
The last man resisting the European Union’s Lisbon treaty indicated yesterday that he was ready to relent, admitting that he could not stall long enough to give David Cameron the chance to call a British referendum.
Vaclav Klaus, 66, the Eurosceptic President of the Czech Republic, said that while he was personally against the treaty, it had become like an unstoppable train after being ratified in all 26 other EU countries.
The President confirmed that Mr Cameron had suggested to him that he hold out until the next British election because, if the Conservatives won, they would put the treaty to a referendum with the intention of sinking it.
But Mr Klaus, who has demanded an opt-out on human rights as the price of his signature, has been put under huge pressure by EU leaders led by Nicolas Sarkozy to sign the agreement since its approval at the re-run Irish referendum this month.
Asked by a Czech newspaper if British Conservatives were urging him to delay, Mr Klaus said: “It is true that I have next to me a personal letter written personally by Mr Cameron from July which is suggesting something like this, but I cannot wait until the British election and I will not. They will have to do them in the next days or weeks.”
The unpredictable Czech leader suggested that he was prepared to sign the treaty if EU leaders meeting in Brussels for their quarterly summit on October 29 agreed an opt-out for the Czech Republic from the Charter of Fundamental Rights and gave this the same legal force as a series of guarantees agreed for Ireland.
Seeking to explain the conflicting signals that had been coming from Mr Klaus and his advisers over his intentions during the past week, he said in his interview: “I do not consider the Lisbon treaty to be a good thing in Europe — for freedom in Europe and for the Czech Republic. However, the train is going too fast and has gone so far that it will not be possible to stop it or to send it back. Even though many of us would wish to do so. The ratification, when it’s all in place — it will not be the end of history.
“I have never said that my footnote would have to be ratified together with the whole Lisbon treaty by all member states. I also never said that something similar to the guarantees given to the Irish by the European Council would not be sufficient enough for me.”
The climbdown for Mr Klaus followed condemnation of his delays from his illustrious predecessor, the playwright Vaclav Havel, who last week called his behaviour irresponsible and wrong.
Mr Klaus may have been stung into action by a suggestion supported by Mr Havel that the Czech Constitutional Court should be asked to make a ruling on whether the President should remain legally competent to sign the treaty.
The Lisbon treaty creates the new jobs of European Union Foreign Minister and President of the European Council, for which Tony Blair is considered a leading candidate.
One of Mr Blair’s own former Europe advisers raised a question mark over his suitability for the job yesterday. Asked about the possibility of Mr Blair becoming EU president, Sir Stephen Wall said: “[That] is not necessarily a very good idea.”
Sir Stephen, who was Britain’s permanent representative to the EU between 1995 and 2000 before working as Mr Blair’s European adviser until 2004, acknowledged that his former boss “is seen as someone who counts and can articulate his vision”.
However he added: “The powers are very constrained. If the President of the United States did phone a President Tony Blair to ask for something, then Blair could only respond that he would ‘consult 27 governments and see what we can do’.”
The delays caused by Mr Klaus’s last-minute demands for an opt-out mean that the post of EU Foreign Minister and President are unlikely to be selected at next week’s summit. EU leaders are considering calling a special one-day summit in November to make these appointments.
Posts
