It seems every week now there is a story about France and/or Germany ruling out EU treaty change and thereby putting pay to David Cameron’s EU reform push before it has even really begun. While this makes for good headlines, the reality is much more nuanced.
Take today’s example: A leaked preliminary draft of a Franco-German paper on Eurozone reform reported by Le Monde and picked up by the Guardian, stated that in the short term (the next few years) the countries will focus on working within the EU treaties, which has been seen as a blow to Cameron’s reform push.
There are some important points to keep in mind though. Firstly, this is not actually a shift in the Franco-German position. They have long said that they will consider treaty change in the medium and long term but do not see it as a short-term priority in the Eurozone.
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