Conservative members send ministers EU reform shopping list

David Cameron will come under increasing pressure in the next few months to publish his ‘shopping list’ of reforms he wants from a renegotiation of Britain’s relationship with Europe. Even those who want to know what the Prime Minister is really thinking accept that this is not a good idea, as he would neither satisfy the spectrum of views across his party, nor impress them when he returned with only 14 out of 20 demands granted (even if those 14 reforms were very impressive ones).

But the Tory party has been consulting its members on the powers that they would like to see returned to national governments. I’ve got hold of the results, which underline how big the expectations are on Cameron to bring about big change in Europe.

For starters, members said they either wanted the European parliament abolished or made smaller and more powerful. The report said:

‘They believe also that the European Parliament as an institution is deeply flawed.