David Cameron: withdrawal from EU is imaginable

By Nicholas Watt – David Cameron has broken new ground on Europe by suggesting British withdrawal from the EU is “imaginable”, aligning himself with the fiercely Eurosceptic Boris Johnson.

Cameron, who is expected to set out plans next month for a referendum on British membership of the EU, has received a blow as polling shows that such a move is unlikely to impress former Tory voters who are expressing support for the UK Independence party (Ukip). more> http://tinyurl.com/d9anmsq

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• Ukip surfs wave of disillusionment with EU to hit new poll high (guardian.co.uk)
• David Cameron to offer in/out referendum on EU, Boris says – Telegraph.co.uk (telegraph.co.uk)
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Dutch coalition teeters over cuts as EU pact struggles

Reuters – The Dutch government teetered on the verge of collapse on Monday in a crisis over budget cuts, spelling the likely end of a coalition which has strongly backed a European Union fiscal treaty and lectured Greece on getting its finances in order.

The row erupted at the weekend when the anti-EU Freedom Party refused to agree with the center-right coalition on how to cut 14 to 16 billion euros from the budget and get the Dutch deficit down to the EU target. New elections are now a near certainty.

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EU summit: le crunch

Editorial – David Cameron went to Brussels promising to safeguard the City, when financial regulation is not remotely on the agenda. Angela Merkel joined him with a plan that avoids the real issues. Each is convinced they are playing clever national politics. In fact, both are playing poor European ones.

There is only one direction of travel for British Eurosceptics. They can pull Britain further away from the core Europe that is being created, but they can not simultaneously exert more influence over it. It’s nothing to do with economics or politics. It’s physics. more> http://tinyurl.com/bojreuj

Related articles

• Europe moves ahead with fiscal union, UK isolated, Paul Taylor and Julien Toyer, Reuters
• Britain stands alone against EU deal, Gregg Benzow, Richard Connor, AP/Reuters/AFP/Deutsche Welle
• The Birth of a Two-Speed Europe, Carsten Volkery, SPIEGEL ONLINE
• Half-Baked Treaty Deal Could Lead to Collapse of Euro Zone, Felix Salmon, Daily Beast
• Cameron ‘in the corner’ as EU strikes euro treaty deal, EurActiv.com
• Treaty change: What the Parliament thinks, EurActiv.com
• Opening gambits: Where do member states stand? EurActiv.com
• EU Summit: Live, EurActiv.com
• Britain, not leaving but falling out of the EU (economist.com)
• Cameron isolated as leaders meet to save euro (independent.co.uk)
• Britain urged to rethink EU ties (news.smh.com.au)
• David Cameron EU treaty veto a quick win but could mean a long battle (mirror.co.uk)
• EU summit and debt crisis: live (telegraph.co.uk)