How ambitious is Cameron on Europe?

Someone forgot to pack his handbag. We heard yesterday that David Cameron has agreed to let Merkel pursue full fiscal union – and in return she will… drum roll please… let him repatriate parts of the Working Time Directive. There’s nothing official from Number 10, but the well-informed Ben Brogan suggests this morning that this could well be Britain’s price for agreeing to Merkel’s deal.

If so, this would be an opportunity squandered on a massive – perhaps historic – scale. Let’s recap. Cameron is in an incredibly powerful position: leading a government which is, in defiance of public opinion, giving £9 billion of overseas aid to EU member states each year. That’s more than we give to all third world countries put together, and more than any country other than Germany. We’re one of the biggest and most gullible paymasters of Europe: surely we can make better demands than this? Especially since relations with the EU are governed by the Lisbon Treaty, on which the British public were promised a referendum.