Britain could leave the European Union and enter into a looser economic relationship with it as the eurozone moves towards becoming a federal state, Jacques Delors said today.
The proposal from Mr Delors suggest that France might be willing to cut Britain loose Photo: Paul Grover
The former European Commission president, who is credited as the architect of
the modern EU
and the euro, has broken ranks with other European leaders to offer Britain
an exit from the Union.
"The British are solely concerned about their economic interests, nothing
else. They could be offered a different form of partnership," he told Handelsblatt,
a German financial newspaper.
"If the British cannot support the trend towards more integration in
Europe, we can nevertheless remain friends, but on a different basis. I
could imagine a form such as a European economic area or a free-trade
agreement."
The comments will add weight to growing demands from Conservative backbench
MPs and Euro-sceptics for David Cameron to renegotiate Britain's
relationship with Europe and to bring back powers from the EU to
Westminster.
The Prime Minister has said that he supports continued EU membership but wants
a "new settlement" which will involve Britain opting-out of
justice measures and seeking exemptions to any further centralisation of
power in Brussels.
The proposal from Mr Delors suggest that France might be willing to cut
Britain loose, boosting the influence of Paris, as the EU moves to fiscal
and political union in 2014 in the wake of the eurozone debt crisis.
In a concerted campaign to keep Britain in Europe, Germany and senior European officials have warned that British demands to be able to "cherry pick" which bits of the EU it signs up to could unravel the whole bloc.
Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, yesterday warned that if countries like Britain were allowed to pick and choose then the whole European edifice would crumble.
"If every member state were able to cherry-pick those parts of existing policies that they most like, and opt out of those that they least like, the union in general, and the single market in particular, would soon unravel," he told the Guardian.
"All member states can, and do, have particular requests and needs that are always taken into consideration as part of our deliberations. I do not expect any member state to seek to undermine the fundamentals of our co-operative system in Europe." Mr Cameron is under pressure to give the British public a say on whether to leave the EU, demands that will be fuelled by the comments from Mr Delors.
He is widely expected to make a speech in the New Year outlining plans for a referendum in 2015, which would voters a choice between a new relationship with Europe and leaving altogether.
"Only an in/out referendum on the date of the next general election will truly reset Britain's relationship with Europe and help deliver an outright Conservative victory," said Mark Pritchard, the Tory MP for The Wrekin.
In a concerted campaign to keep Britain in Europe, Germany and senior European officials have warned that British demands to be able to "cherry pick" which bits of the EU it signs up to could unravel the whole bloc.
Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, yesterday warned that if countries like Britain were allowed to pick and choose then the whole European edifice would crumble.
"If every member state were able to cherry-pick those parts of existing policies that they most like, and opt out of those that they least like, the union in general, and the single market in particular, would soon unravel," he told the Guardian.
"All member states can, and do, have particular requests and needs that are always taken into consideration as part of our deliberations. I do not expect any member state to seek to undermine the fundamentals of our co-operative system in Europe." Mr Cameron is under pressure to give the British public a say on whether to leave the EU, demands that will be fuelled by the comments from Mr Delors.
He is widely expected to make a speech in the New Year outlining plans for a referendum in 2015, which would voters a choice between a new relationship with Europe and leaving altogether.
"Only an in/out referendum on the date of the next general election will truly reset Britain's relationship with Europe and help deliver an outright Conservative victory," said Mark Pritchard, the Tory MP for The Wrekin.
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