The coalition government faces the prospect of a referendum on Europe and the outbreak of political warfare between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats after Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel demanded a new EU treaty within two years.
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| Sarkozy and Merkel: REUTERS image |
Bruno Waterfield
Telegraph
Following a meeting in France, the French President threw his weight behind calls from the German Chancellor for changes to the Lisbon Treaty in order to prevent future government debt crises threatening the euro zone.
The move is a serious setback for David Cameron because he has opposed any fresh EU institutional changes and recently renewed his “referendum lock” pledge to hold a popular vote on any future treaty that passes new powers to Brussels.
In a joint statement with Chancellor Merkel, President Sarkozy proposed revisions to the EU treaty in order to bring in tough sanctions against countries that threatened the euro’s stability by running high levels of government debt and to set up permanent EU bail-out fund.
“Germany and France together will put forward a revision to the treaties so that political sanctions can be made and for support mechanisms to be made ongoing in order to ensure the financial stability of the euro zone,” he said.
Britain has fought hard since March this year to block changes to the Lisbon Treaty by warning Germany and France that it would open the EU as a divisive political issue across Europe and that it could trigger a British referendum, almost certainly leading to a No vote.
The treaty change pact between France and Germany will put the Prime Minister on a collision course with Mr Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel at an EU summit on “economic governance” to be held in Brussels on Oct 28.
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