Seen as a victory for Mr Cameron by some press reports in the wake of his "Europe" speech, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was reported as saying she wanted "to see a deal" with Britain. The Mail claims he "even won the support of Germany's Angela Merkel".

However, Quentin Peel in the Financial Times thinks celebrations may be premature, and that Cameron is in danger of misreading Merkel. There is a long British tradition, he says, of failing to understand Berlin.

Although Merkel had sent a clear message from Berlin after Mr Cameron's speech on Wednesday, that Germany did not want the UK to leave the EU, she also told Cameron that, if he was just pursuing narrow national (or party) interests, this was a game everyone might play. The European game, she said, was about compromise.

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I liked the Brighton train idea in the earlier approach.

OT, and not quite the Harrogate Agenda, I've been thinking about a very different approach to enabling grassroot democracy (including recall). Damning criticism welcomed.

Which monkeys? And which organ grinder? Your analogy escapes me.

Sit out the last few years. Probably hand over the reigns to 'BoJo', if he's in parliament by then, write his memoirs, do the after dinner speech circuit and wait to be offered a nice cushy job.

Well, its what they all do isn't it ?

The rest does not matter. He would have done what he set out to do. Move us ever closer to the union.

I think, more importantly, what will we do then?

Although German opinion appears divided about Cameron's negotiation-&-referendum speech & his objection to ever closer union, the EU's Commission staff clearly are displeased. Their punishment for Britain's apparent challenge to their sovereignity is to fine the UK 300,000 euros (about £250,000) per day for failing to implement two EU directives on how gas and electricity markets operate in the EU, & therefore should operate in Britain. The deadline for member states to have adopted this energy legislation was March 2011. Perhaps because they have not rocked the boat in the way the Commission staff probably considers Britain has through Cameron's recent speech, Bulgaria and Estonia, which have also failed to comply, face much smaller fines of just £14,000 a day and £7,500 a day respectively. See:
http://www.dailymail.co.....html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Perhaps the Commission will, unintentionally, prove our EU-exit cause's best recruiting sergeant ever!

Watchet

"Merkel's patience with the British has its limits, does it." Hmmmm.
So our patience with the murky female must have no limits?
We are subordinate, after all - especially if we 'play' for subsidiarity. She is and will be our "supervisor." So we'd better learn our place, or we'll be disciplined.

Right?

Edited by user 25 January 2013 16:20:45(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Perhaps it has become like wrestling: Dave is playing the baddie to reinforce Merkel and Hollande's desire to avoid a new treaty.

Your appraisal of the German media makes them sound just like ours - inflating Merkel's authority as ours do with Cameron. Both Merkel and Hollande and many others are constrained by having to appear to be putting national interests and considerations first, and having to account for how other nations view them, just as Dave is.