Politics: Don’t let Europe’s crisis go to waste

Europe has reached a crucial crossroads, from which there is no return.

Europe has reached a crucial crossroads, from which there is no return. Soon, either the eurozone countries will become even more tightly bound together or they will begin to fall apart as the most ambitious elements of the European project are abandoned. The eurozone cannot continue as it is constituted for much longer. And if David Cameron is to be credible as a Conservative leader, he must take advantage of Europe’s weakness to secure Britain’s strength.

The eurozone’s difficulty may quickly become Britain’s opportunity. Last week, Jean-Claude Trichet, the normally cautious governor of the European Central Bank, said the eurozone needed a single finance ministry, and so a common budget, to work. This requires a treaty change, over which Britain would have a veto. Cameron could, if he chose, use this moment to renegotiate our whole relationship with the European Union.