Over the
past few days, the anti-European rhetoric coming from the British government
has been increasing. But what effect does such talk have on Britain's standing
in the EU?
Under
mounting pressure from the right of his party, British Prime Minister David
Cameron has given his strongest hints yet that he's planning to call a
referendum on the UK's ties with the European Union. British
"euroskeptics" are hoping this will be an opportunity to claw back
powers from Brussels - and to avoid getting further entangled in costly
solutions to the eurozone crisis.
At the
Conservative Party conference earlier this week, Cameron also threatened to
disrupt EU budget talks unless other member states could agree to "proper
control" of spending. Speaking to the BBC, Cameron said the budget was a
"classic example" of where the UK should "probably start to draw
new lines."
'Sense of
annoyance'
 |
| Cameron made the comments at his party's annual conference |
But with
another European summit due at the end of next week, is there a danger that
such talk could rankle with fellow member states?
"There
is a feeling that basically the UK is dispensing itself from what especially
the eurozone is doing, and pushing for far more integration in the eurozone -
as long as it doesn't touch the UK. So basically there might be a sense of
annoyance coming from the French side," said Vivien Pertusot, Head of the
French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) in Brussels. He added that
relations between the UK government and Francois Hollande's administration had
so far been "cordial."
Marco
Incerti from the influential think-tank, the Center for European Policy Studies
(CEPS), thinks that Cameron's latest comments will come as little surprise to
many in Brussels.
"It's
not all of a sudden that people in Brussels are panicking - the concern has
been there for quite some time. There's been a steady increase in parallel with
the perceived growing distances between London and Brussels, and certainly in
the last five years, if not more, there are more people here who have become
frustrated by the relationship," he told DW.
Harsher
tone for 'domestic consumption'
However,
James Elles, a long-standing British Conservative Member of the European
Parliament (MEP) pointed to the fact that Cameron's comments were made in the
specific context of the Conservative Party conference - where a significant
proportion of delegates are hostile to the EU.
 |
| Will Cameron be sidelined in Europe? |
"I
think people understand that if there's a harsher tone that's certainly to be
for domestic consumption," Elles told DW.
But some
are warning that Britain may be arguing itself out of a position at the table
when it comes to future discussions in Europe.
"If
you talk to British people in Brussels, they're very much alert to what's going
on and they're alarmed," said Pertusot.
UK remains
influential in Brussels
Incerti
doesn't think that the anti-European sentiment coming from the UK government
affects the country's wider influence in Brussels.
"You
have this perception in the UK about Brussels dictating rules for Westminster
and for the United Kingdom as if they came out of nowhere," Incerti said,
"whereas in fact the United Kingdom through its officials remains quite
influential here in Brussels."
He added
that the UK is an "unavoidable player" when it comes to matters
relating to the finance industry as a result of the city of London's status as
Europe's foremost financial hub.
As far as
the prospect of a referendum is concerned, Incerti said that many in Brussels
would welcome the idea, given that it would make matters much clearer.
 |
| The city of London is important to the whole of Europe |
"It is
time for the United Kingdom to make up its mind - either you want to be in this
and you're fully committed, which means also eventually being prepared to take
certain steps forward, or you don't want to be in, and that's fair enough, but
then let's decide once and for all," he said.
The UK's
position will be put to the test next week when EU leaders meet in Brussels for
a summit on October 18-19, at which proposals for a banking union are expected
to top the agenda.
Last
December, the prime minister said he was using Britain's veto to opt out of an
EU-wide fiscal pact designed to help the eurozone - an unexpected move that was
seen as a watershed in Britain's relationship with the rest of Europe. The
deal went through anyway, without UK involvement.
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