Cameron phones potential eurosceptic allies

Paul Hu - you need to look around you a bit more. Below are some of the media comments around the EU where realisation regarding the bunch of clowns runnming the show just now is beggining to emerge.What happened last week was a farce which will neither save the euro nor create fiscal responsibility in the future. Who teh hell do you think were the first to break the 3% GDP rule? France and Germany!! Well, there's a surprise!!! And if you really think the Greeks are going to continue with life as it is for the next 9 years only to halve their deficit, you must need some medical treatment.

In Poland, Arkadiusz Mularczyk, a senior MP for the Conservative Solidarna Polska party, went as far as to argue that:

"[Polish PM] Tusk should learn from Cameron's diplomacy"
A leader in Welt am Sonntag entitled: “Britain: Please come back!” argued that:

“Should the UK actually leave the EU, the Union would lose not only the cradle of European democracy, but also one of its founding members - and the most important financial centre of the old continent”.
On Monday, in Sweden's main daily Svenska Dagbladet, EU-expert Roger Älmberg wrote that:

"[Sarkozy and Merkel] Needed to identify Cameron as a scapegoat to paper over their own conflicts...the details that will emerge [from the EU deal in March] will most likely lead to more than the UK feeling excluded.”
A leader in Sweden’s largest tabloid, Expressen, noted that Cameron may have ended up outside the EU’s core structure, but that it was also “hard to find arguments” for Sweden to join Merkozy’s pact, since:

“There are no plans or political majority for joining the euro. Besides, Sweden doesn’t like that the euro countries go off on their own outside the Treaties.”
Meanwhile in Belgium, Baroness Mia Doornaert, a well-known Belgian commentator and former advisor to the former Belgian PM, Yves Leterme, argued in De Standaard:

"David Cameron says no to a new European treaty, while listening to his English voters, and is accused of being someone who "blackmails" Europe. Twenty six other government leaders and heads of state don't give their parliaments but European bureaucrats control over their budgets...this kind of top down integration carries the risk that democratic support for the Union shrinks. Europe and democracy: for now they don't seem together. Unless you consider it democracy that elected leaders in Brussels agree upon common measures which they can't or don't dare to push through in their own countries."
There was also nuanced remarks from Dutch magazine Elsevier’s EU correspondent Carla Joosten, who commented that:

"[Cameron's] fear of European rules which would hit the heart of the British economy, the financial sector in London... isn't unjustified. It wouldn't be the first time that France and Germany are trying to get rid of competition elsewhere in the Union. French President Nicolas Sarkozy keeps on repeating that the City of London is at the heart of the crisis. It isn't of course that simple. The British have already cleaned up their banking sector better than the French and the Germans together."
The Irish Independent's chief critic, Bruce Arnold yesterday wrote a piece somewhat dramatically entitled "We need to strengthen UK ties before EU strangles us", in which he argued:

"That is now overshadowed by the darker figures of Angela Merkel protecting German interests, Sarkozy protecting French interests, and doing so with greater skill and duplicity than we have seen before. David Cameron has seen what this would do to British interests and backed away. We should do the same."
This theme continued this week, with Tuesday's Handelsblatt's editorial arguing that:

"Even under normal circumstances it would have been hopeless to expect Cameron to approve the EU's conversion into a fiscal union as a first step towards political union without receiving anything to show for it at home. But given that the justification for this step was the rescue of a currency the logic of which the British still doubt today it was utterly impossible…It would be better now to focus on what the two sides still have in common and what can serve both their interests instead of ranting against the Britsh. And a functioning common market is right at the top of the list here."
While worrying about the UK’s ‘departure’ an editorial in El Pais claimed that:

"From development cooperation to a European research area, many European projects would look very different today without the UK's influence. And it's difficult to imagine that without the UK the EU would have dared to break up hugely influential national monopolies like the telephone companies or airlines. If the UK leaves, the EU will lose not only military, academic and financial clout but also a country that has demonstrated that it is much better able to renew its public administration and policies than continental Europe"
Spanish regional paper Las Provincias argued that:

“Despite doubts, the UK contributes much to the EU in economic and political reforms, and one should avoid reading the pact as a new battle between Europeans, with winners and losers.”
In this week's Spiegel magazine, London correspondent Marco Evers criticises Cameron’s decision to veto EU Treaty change, but concludes that:

“Despite all the anger, [the British] might soon be missed… ironically enough, it might just be the Germans who regret losing the United Kingdom. London's dedication to free trade, to the rule of law and to having things run in an orderly manner is not so easy to replace. Berlin is losing a partner who was a dependable counterweight to the club of those slack states in southern Europe whose freewheeling financial policies the restrained Germans have always abhorred.”
All in all then, to paraphrase Mark Twain slightly, it could be said that reports of the UK’s death in Europe have been greatly exaggerated.

Dear Don Latuske,

You seem to be pretty informed how much the good old Uk will miss us if she leaves the EU. I already start to cry actually. The biggest "producer" of financial services, trousers and candies=UK will miss only to a guys like you: dedicated to prove the "virginity" of the good old stealers, the football fans, the terrorism providers and so on and so on.
I'm really sick of such protective blablas.
So long UK, long live the Queen, the prince the princess !

Paul Hu - "No one I have spoken to in the EU cares what the UK will do since they will gradually close down trading with the UK as a result of this"

Of course they will, they really hate selling us all those cars, trains, planes, cheeses, wines, etc etc etc etc.

What planet are you from?

Jack (the Ripper)

See Eurostat - http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/6-16122011-BP/EN/6-16122011-BP-EN.PDF

Jan - Sep 11 Eurozone exports to UK 158.3 billion Euro
Jan - Sep 11 Eurozone imports from UK 122.6 billion
(exports to USA by comparison 145.4 billion Euro)

So I do think the UK is thaaaat important to Germany, France and the rest of them. To suggest trade will close down (Paul Hu) is plain stupid.