You could say that pragmatism won out at today’s Global Vision / Daily Telegraph conference on the future relationship between Britain and Europe. On the one hand, you had the pro-Europe voice of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing arguing that Britain should more or less be able to pick ‘n’ mix what parts of the EU agenda it subscribes to. And, on the other, you had a largely (moderate?) Eurosceptic panel arguing that – well – Britain should more or less be able to pick ‘n’ mix what parts of the EU agenda it subscribes to.
Of course, there were differences of emphasis. Giscard d’Estaing thought that Britain’s “special status” should be enshrined in a power to “opt out” of future treaties. Whereas – I suspect – many on the panel would prefer Britain to opt out of some existing treaties too.
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