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| David Cameron denounces French 'ambush' on Britain's EU rebate | David Cameron denounces French 'ambush' on Britain's EU rebate |
| (3 months later) | |
| The prime minister rounded aggressively on the EU, accusing it of mismanagement and disorganisation after what he portrayed as a naked French-led attempt to reduce the rebate Britain receives on the EU budget. | The prime minister rounded aggressively on the EU, accusing it of mismanagement and disorganisation after what he portrayed as a naked French-led attempt to reduce the rebate Britain receives on the EU budget. |
| Following an argument in the early hours of Friday on the fringes of a two-day EU summit in which France and Italy were said to demand a slight adjustment to the British rebate agreed in February, David Cameron spent much of his post-summit press conference denouncing how the EU is run. | Following an argument in the early hours of Friday on the fringes of a two-day EU summit in which France and Italy were said to demand a slight adjustment to the British rebate agreed in February, David Cameron spent much of his post-summit press conference denouncing how the EU is run. |
| "In this town you need to be ready for an ambush at any time," he said of Brussels. "Lock and load and have one up the spout to be ready … It is immensely frustrating sometimes the way this organisation works." | "In this town you need to be ready for an ambush at any time," he said of Brussels. "Lock and load and have one up the spout to be ready … It is immensely frustrating sometimes the way this organisation works." |
| While Cameron talked up the challenge to the British rebate, speaking of a French-led "ambush at one o'clock in the morning," other key participants, speaking privately, dismissed the row as a storm in a teacup. "It was a kind of false problem," said one. "It took 10 minutes at the end of [the summit]. I'm really not interested." | While Cameron talked up the challenge to the British rebate, speaking of a French-led "ambush at one o'clock in the morning," other key participants, speaking privately, dismissed the row as a storm in a teacup. "It was a kind of false problem," said one. "It took 10 minutes at the end of [the summit]. I'm really not interested." |
| Germany's Der Spiegel magazine accused Cameron of looking for trouble where there was none. "The British are nothing if not predictable," it said. | Germany's Der Spiegel magazine accused Cameron of looking for trouble where there was none. "The British are nothing if not predictable," it said. |
| British officials insisted the issue was real and that the French and Italians had raised technical questions about the rebate agreed when EU leaders finalised the new seven-year budget in February. | British officials insisted the issue was real and that the French and Italians had raised technical questions about the rebate agreed when EU leaders finalised the new seven-year budget in February. |
| While Cameron emphasised that he had secured the rebate as "inviolable", it appeared that his campaign to re-open the EU treaties and to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership before a referendum in 2017 were set back. | While Cameron emphasised that he had secured the rebate as "inviolable", it appeared that his campaign to re-open the EU treaties and to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership before a referendum in 2017 were set back. |
| Key summit participants said that the mood of the summit was one of semi-complacency with the heat off in the euro crisis, meaning that the leaders of the eurozone were a lot less keen to push ahead with pooling sovereign powers over economic and fiscal policy and less interested in reopening the treaty. | Key summit participants said that the mood of the summit was one of semi-complacency with the heat off in the euro crisis, meaning that the leaders of the eurozone were a lot less keen to push ahead with pooling sovereign powers over economic and fiscal policy and less interested in reopening the treaty. |
| While the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, argued for a greater degree of economic policy co-ordination in the eurozone on Friday, the majority of other leaders were guarded, stressing their reluctance to surrender sovereignty over policymaking, senior sources said. | While the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, argued for a greater degree of economic policy co-ordination in the eurozone on Friday, the majority of other leaders were guarded, stressing their reluctance to surrender sovereignty over policymaking, senior sources said. |
| Cameron, by contrast, urged the eurozone to take a big leap towards greater integration. Paradoxically, diplomats and officials pointed out, Britain, in its semi-detached position on the EU, is becoming the strongest advocate of greater Eurozone unification. | Cameron, by contrast, urged the eurozone to take a big leap towards greater integration. Paradoxically, diplomats and officials pointed out, Britain, in its semi-detached position on the EU, is becoming the strongest advocate of greater Eurozone unification. |
| Officials said that with the single currency no longer under an "existential threat", the enthusiasm among governments for much closer eurozone rules was waning. | Officials said that with the single currency no longer under an "existential threat", the enthusiasm among governments for much closer eurozone rules was waning. |
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