Cameron to back down on economy, says EU officials
Prime Minister David Cameron delivering his key-note speech to delegates at the Times CEO Summit 'Setting Britain's Agenda' at County Hall in Central London
Wednesday June 30 2010
BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron will break his promise not to transfer powers to Brussels by yielding to plans for an EU 'economic government' and City of London regulation, senior European officials have predicted.
Britain has opposed German and French calls for European Commission scrutiny of national budgets, and is against the creation of Europe-wide financial supervisors who can overrule regulators in the City of London.
Both issues are top of the agenda for Belgium as it takes over the EU's six-month rotating presidency tomorrow, giving the federalist country a leading role in negotiations.
A senior Belgian official has suggested that the British prime minister will ultimately back down now that elections, and forming a government, are behind him.
Belgian negotiators are convinced that Mr Cameron's hard-line opposition to giving more sovereignty up to the EU, a pledge written into his coalition's agreement, will be sacrificed in the interests of pragmatism.
The Belgian official said no EU agreements would ever be possible if leaders stuck to the "totality" of their election manifestos. "It is impossible to have compromise with total programmes," he said.
Conservatives have dismissed the Belgian claim as wishful thinking and an exercise of "viewing the world through their own eyes".
"We are pragmatic, but we are also robust in defence of the national interest," said a Conservative source.
Belgium has acknowledged that there will be a major battle over proposals to give the EU powers to vet budgets before they are presented to national parliaments.
Legislative
Formal legislative proposals on "budget peer review" and increased "budgetary surveillance" to prevent another eurozone debt crisis will be tabled by the Commission today.
"There is a question of sovereignty if the role of the European Commission in economic government is reinforced," admitted the Belgian source.
Belgian officials, with strong French and German support, are pushing hard to set up new EU supervisors to police financial markets.
EU officials have warned British diplomats that the Lisbon Treaty means it will have to compromise on sovereignty because Britain cannot veto either the budget scrutiny or financial market supervision measures.
Belgium is also ready to pick a fight with Britain over plans for European-wide taxes to fund the EU independently of contributions from national treasuries.
Britain, along with other countries, does not want to give Brussels any tax-raising powers and is deeply suspicious of EU attempts to get a share of new types of taxation, such as levies on financial transactions or CO2 emissions. (© The Telegraph, London)
- Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
Irish Independent
