Europe on the Brink? Political Issues

Graham Avery, who was recognized in the Queen's New Year Honours 2012 for services to European Affairs, suggests that David Cameron's veto over the proposed EU treaty changes in December could herald the development of a two-tier structure of EU membership, which may lead to serious economic and political problems for Britain. Describing Britain's EU policy as 'uncomfortably situated between a rock and a hard place', he outlines the risk of Britain having a marginalized role in Europe with the stark warning that 'if you are not at the table, you will be on the menu'. He goes on to attribute the eurozone crisis in part to poor management of the rules for the euro, and identified errors made by the Commission in accepting false economic accounts by Greece and the transgression of the rules by Germany and France with budget deficits exceeding 3 percent.