Google Analytics

Wednesday, January 23

23rd Jan - Special: Cameron's Speech

Updated 15:00 GMT 26-Jan, latest at the bottom

Previously on MoreLiver’s:

Follow ‘MoreLiver’ on Twitter or Facebook

Cameron’s moment of truthMacroScope / Reuters
The bottom line is that it’s a heroic assumption that Cameron will be able to renegotiate Britain’s terms with the EU, despite his argument that the dramatic changes that will result from the euro zone debt crisis demands a broader reassessment of the bloc’s treaty. If he fails, the vast majority of his party are likely to sway towards an “out” vote.

Prepared remarks from UK prime minister David CameronReuters

MAINSTREAM MEDIA
Cameron Promises Referendum by 2017 on U.K. Leaving EUBB
Cameron, describing British backing for the status quo in Europe as “wafer thin,” said he would put the question to a popular vote by the end of 2017, if re-elected in two years and once he has negotiated a return of some powers to the U.K. He said that he wants the U.K. to remain in the EU.

Cameron promises Britons straight choice on EU exitReuters
Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Wednesday to give Britons a straight referendum choice on whether to stay in the European Union or leave, provided he wins an election in 2015.

David Cameron speech: UK and the EUBBC
David Cameron has said the British people must "have their say" on Europe as he pledged an in/out referendum if the Conservatives win the election.

COMMENTARY
David Cameron: I will settle the Europe question with EU referendumThe Telegraph
David Cameron has promised to settle the "European question" forever with a referendum on Britain's EU membership by the end of 2017.

Snapshot: The in-out plan that cannot fail... er, can it?The Telegraph
Michael Deacon watches David Cameron give his long-awaited speech on Europe, in which he promised an in-out EU referendum if he wins the next election.

David Cameron wants to save the EU from itself. Will it save him from his party, and the judgment of history?The Telegraph
For all the polish and self-assurance – and it was a pretty good speech in terms of delivery – David Cameron did not want to give this speech.

How do you revise the EU treaties?Brussels blog / FT
David Cameron is now the only leader in Europe openly advocating the revision of EU treaties by a set deadline. He asserts that this will happen by 2017 because the eurozone will have to make “massive changes” to save the single currency. But what if that is not the case? What if Britain is the main reason for a treaty revision? How would Cameron trigger a renegotiation?

Cameron remains a man without a Europe planThe A-list / FT
David Cameron is making three assumptions in seeking to change the basis of Britain’s EU membership and then put this "new settlement" to an in-out referendum. That our partners want Britain in at any price. That they will negotiate a new treaty in which Britain’s demands can be easily accommodated. And that the British government will be able to determine the timetable. All these assumptions are highly questionable.

David Cameron’s Europe SpeechMarketBeat / WSJ
The markets’ first verdict on David Cameron’s big European Union speech: Modest thumbs up.

Open Europe responds to David Cameron’s speech on EuropeOpen Europe


A brave and democratically honest strategyOpen Europe
- but will Cameron be able to stick to his timetable?


UPDATE 1 
UK looks to 2017 for EU membership voteeuobserver

Britain will hold a referendum on whether to stay in the EU by the end of 2017, David Cameron has said in his long-delayed speech.



Germany wants Britain in EU, warns about 'cherry picking'euobserver



To be or not to be?Hannu Visti

Tämä on nähtävissä ennen kaikkea sisäpoliittiseksi vedoksi, sillä toryjen kannatus on kaukana Labourin perässä juuri nyt, ja toisaalta EU-vastaisuus on valtakunnassa suurta.



And the nominee for best EU vision is … David CameronNordea
 
UPDATE 2
EU mystified at how Cameron's renegotiation will happenReuters

European officials and diplomats were left scratching their heads after David Cameron's big speech on Wednesday, expressing confusion about how and when the prime minister expects to overhaul Britain's ties to the European Union.



UK faces five years of limbo-landHugo Dixon / Reuters



Daily Press SummaryOpen Europe

Cameron pledges EU negotiation and in/out referendum by middle of next parliament; Speech attracts mixed response from around Europe

UPDATE 3 
Cameron Helps Sterling for the Long termWSJ


Not such a safe havenButtonwood / The Economist

This looks like a scheme that is designed to deal with the right-wingers in Mr Cameron's party and with the electoral threat of UKIP, the isolationist party that some fear might top the polls in the EU parliamentary elections next year and could deprive the Tories of a majority in the general election of 2015. Alas, it is hardly a plan that creates certainty for businesses planning direct investment into the UK.



David Cameron’s EU speech – our experts reacteuropp / LSE

We asked EUROPP’s expert contributors for their immediate reactions and their thoughts on the speech’s implications for the UK and Europe.


Merkel willing to discuss British demands after EU budget dealeuobserver

UPDATE 4 

After Cameron’s speech, it’s Farage vs. VerhofstadtBrussels blog / FT
There’s one thing Britain’s foremost eurosceptic and Belgium’s most prominent European federalist agreed on: Within minutes of Cameron finishing his speech in London, both had blasted out e-mail responses lambasting it.

Cameron Should Expect No Favors From the Rest of EuropeWSJ
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron wants a fundamental change in the treaty governing the European Union, or at least a different relationship between London and Brussels. He will likely get neither.

UK's EU future dependent on other member stateseuobserver
EU leaders have reacted coolly to Prime Minister David Cameron's statement on Europe, in a reminder that much of what stands on the UK's wishlist is dependent on the goodwill of other member states.

Counterparties: David Cameron’s perplexing ployFelix Salmon / Reuters
David Cameron is definitely up to something. The weird thing is that no one, himself included, seems to know exactly what.

David Cameron’s Euro-NemesisProject Syndicate
Peter Sutherland: British Prime Minister David Cameron’s call to renegotiate his country's EU membership heralds a new era of turbulence and uncertainty for Britain and its European partners. Indeed, Cameron's strategy is more likely to lead to the UK's withdrawal from the EU than would a straightforward "in/out" referendum held now.

The Eclipse of British ReasonProject Syndicate
Joschka Fischer: When placed under too much strain, chains tend to break at the weakest link. But, as British Prime Minister David Cameron has now demonstrated, the European chain is most likely to break not at its weakest link, but at its most irrational.

Of all the reactions from Europe, there is one that is infinitely more important than all others…Open Europe

Traders Shrug Off Prospect of U.K. Referendum on EUWSJ
Investors appear unruffled by the prospect of the U.K. leaving the European Union, judging from the calm in sterling markets Wednesday.

David Cameron’s argument will fool no-one, and will relegate the existing EU-UK relationship to the peripheryeuropp / LSE
Julian Priestley takes an in-depth look at David Cameron’s speech on the UK’s relationship with Europe. He finds that that it fell into familiar Eurosceptic fallacies about the EU, ignored linkages between regulation and the internal market, and overestimated the UK’s chances of renegotiating the relationship with the EU. Instead, he writes, this morning’s speech was solely designed to shore up Cameron’s own position in the Conservative party and to counter UKIP’s increasing anti-EU rhetoric.

UPDATE 5

Cameron’s Plan to Change EuropeEditorial / BB

Prime Minister David Cameron’s much- hyped speech on the U.K.’s place in the European Union turned out to be both domestically astute and a gamble with Europe whose outcome is hard to predict.
  

David Cameron's referendum may never be necessaryThe Telegraph

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: David Cameron's pledge for an 'in-or-out' referendum on Europe will be overtaken by internal events long before we reach 2017. The vote may never be necessary. He is entirely right to play for time.
  
UPDATE 6

David Cameron's referendum may never be necessaryThe Telegraph

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: David Cameron's pledge for an 'in-or-out' referendum on Europe will be overtaken by internal events long before we reach 2017. The vote may never be necessary. He is entirely right to play for time.


As much as David Cameron has been pushed by his backbenchers on Europe, his instincts as a politician have prevailedeuropp / LSE

British angst over Europe will continueBruegel
David Cameron's speech on Europe was predominantly tactical. So, too, are the reactions from Berlin and Paris. But the British prime minister's speech raises questions of broad significance for the whole of the European Union. Should the EU be redefined as a permanently two-level edifice? And if so, how?

Fish and folly in Cameron’s European projectThe World / FT
Martin Wolf: The future of the UK in the EU is, of course, already a subject of fierce debate. Everybody can see that the chances of a British departure have increased. The question is by how much.

How realistic is Cameron's timetable for EU reform?Open Europe

Cameron's poker face?Open Europe

Business backs Cameron's call for a mandate on EuropeOpen Europe

‘Yes, Prime Minister (Now go on and finish the job, Mr Cameron)’Daily Mail / presseurop

‘Cameron puts pressure on EU’Gazeta / presseurop

‘Cameron scandalises Europe’Süddeutsche Zeitung / presseurop

Cameron prods Europe’s sore spotpresseurop

(audio) BizDaily: Merkel reaction to British plans?BBC (mp3)
From a ski resort in the Swiss Alps we hear German reaction to British plans to renegotiate the terms of its EU membership. Or rather, we don't hear it, because it's very quiet... Is the German chancellor Angela Merkel anxious not to rock the Euro-boat? And if Europe can't sort its problems out, why on earth does Nigeria's Central Bank Governor want to see something like a Eurozone for West Africa? Only he knows.


Cameron to EU: don't force political unionReuters

British Prime Minister David Cameron told European leaders on Thursday that any attempt to force countries into ever-deeper political union was a mistake that Britain would not be part of.


Britain: The annoying EuropeanReuters
Truly, Britain is not just a bad European, but a very annoying one. David Cameron half-admitted as much in his speech in Davos Wednesday, when he quipped, “frustrated as [our European partners] no doubt are by Britain’s attitude.”
 
UPDATE 7

Cameron Plays a Weak Hand, but Don’t Bet on a BrexitPIIE
Pity David Cameron. What is a British Prime Minster to do? The UK economy is stagnating even before the spending cuts in his fiscal consolidation program begin to bite. His central bank seems reluctant to provide more monetary stimulus—though that might change with his new handpicked Bank of England governor.

In promising a referendum on Europe, the prime minister is taking a puntThe Economist
David Cameron’s vision for Europe is compelling. The prime minister wants a European Union dedicated to free trade and competitiveness, which helps business rather than tying it in red tape.

A nuanced response to David Cameron’s European demandsThe Economist
David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister, annoyed the French last year when he declared that Britain would “roll out the red carpet” for businessmen fleeing France’s 75% tax on the wealthiest.

A landmark speech on Europe, delighting his party. He now needs to change the subjectThe Economist
In 2003 Tony Blair’s efforts to drag Britain into “the heart of Europe” hit the buffers. His chancellor of the exchequer, Gordon Brown, blocked the then prime minister’s attempt to join the euro.

UPDATE 8

Cameron's EU speech: German media cautious but receptiveOpen Europe


[Opinion] Cameron's gambleeuobserver
David Cameron’s strategy relies on three rather shaky assumptions which is why the Prime Minister's bet on EU Treaty re-negotiation is likely to fail.
 
UPDATE 9
Czechoslovakia’s dissolution may offer important lessons in the UK’s debate over EU membership europp / LSE
Czechoslovakia’s split in 1993 offers some valuable lessons for the current situation. He argues that that country’s voluntary break-up illustrates how if politicians threaten secession as a way to extract concessions, this can lead to unexpected and unwanted outcomes.

David Cameron’s speech was about as pro-European as can be expected of a British Conservative Prime Minister in the current contexteuropp / LSE
The content was far more pro-European than might have been expected. There are strong reasons to support a renegotiation of the UK’s position inside the EU and that a referendum on this new agreement could re-engage British citizens with the European project.