When the European Union unexpectedly won the
Nobel Peace Prize this month, the leaders of Germany, France and Italy
spoke of their pride. But the British prime minister, David Cameron,
maintained an awkward silence.
Before
that, the British government said it wanted to exercise an opt out of
an estimated 133 areas of European Union police and judicial cooperation
to which it had once agreed.
And
Mr. Cameron supported a plan for a new budget for countries that use
the euro (which Britain does not), something that would place his nation
firmly in Europe’s outer tier. The prime minister has been hinting that
he could hold a referendum on Britain’s relations with the union, and
one newspaper reported recently that a senior cabinet minister wants
Britain to threaten openly to leave the 27-nation bloc. There was no
official denial of the report.
All
of which has fueled concerns that Britain is laying plans for what
political and financial pundits have dubbed “Brixit,” a variant on
“Grexit” — the shorthand for Greece’s much predicted if currently
forestalled departure from the euro zone.
Mr.
Cameron insists that he is trying to keep Britain in the European
Union. He argues gamely that popular consent to membership can be
regained only by refocusing the relationship on Europe’s single economic
and free trade market — which accounts for half of Britain’s foreign
trade and investment, according to the government — and loosening other
ties.
Britain has
always been ambivalent about the European project. Unlike the founding
six nations, all of them defeated or occupied in World War II, Britain
was a victor. In national mythology, the war was neither a moment of
disgrace nor a humiliation. On the contrary, it was widely considered
the country’s finest hour, when it stood alone against fascism.
Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49585264
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