15/09/2015
Philip Johnston in the
Telegraph is picking up on the idea of associate membership â without him realising that he is referring to this concept.
He refers to Juncker's speech from last week (one of the few journalists to do so), focusing on the president's promise that any deal with the UK "will recognise the reality that not all member states participate in all areas of EU policy", with the addition that: "the UK's choices must not prevent (others) from further integration where they see fit".
Failing then to recognise the threat, Johnston sees in this "the outlines of a possible agreement". Since it is already the case that the UK does not take part in all EU policies, he writes, "Mr Juncker is offering Britain an official semi-detached status, provided the rest of Europe can head off down the road to a super-state".
"Formalising the concept of a two-speed Europe, which has long been talked about and is already a de facto reality", Johnston adds, "would enable David Cameron to recommend staying in the EU when the referendum is held".
Thus, instead of ringing the alarm bells, this journalist is giving the concept his lukewarm approval, then airily dismissing "Euro-sceptics", by writing:
Of course, none of this will satisfy Euro-sceptics who want to restore Britainâs full sovereignty, which can only happen by leaving the EU. But it may give Mr Cameron enough wriggle room to formulate a deal that he can put to the country while limiting the divisions in his own party.
Dressed up, the "second-class citizenship" may indeed give Mr Cameron the "wriggle room" he needs, and more so if the legacy media endorse the idea, as we're seeing here. This is possibly a taste of things to come, where associate membership is seen as a reasonable "middle way", triggering a mass defection of the legacy media to the "remains".
On that basis, the "leavers" already need to be drastically upping their game, before this threat builds momentum. Once it is perceived as a "good thing", it will be very hard to dislodge.
