Promise of EU reform ‘is not enough’

BRITAIN must get more than just the promise of future EU reforms – or risk European leaders going back on their word, the Foreign Secretary has warned.

Philip Hammond said the Greek bailout fiasco, in which a written agreement not to use an EU-wide rescue fund was torn up, showed ‘you do need to have these things nailed down otherwise they can come back and bite you’.

David Cameron has called for ‘proper, full-on treaty change’ as part of Britain’s re-negotia- tion of its EU membership. But other European leaders are reluctant and Downing Street officials admit there is not enough time to secure changes before the in/out referendum, which must be held by the end of 017. Instead, Mr Cameron is expected to settle for a ‘post- dated cheque’ on reform, with guarantees that the changes will be implemented in the following years.

But Mr Hammond said yesterday that the Greek crisis shows we must ‘make sure the package we agree is permanent and not subject to either political or legal rollback in the future’.

European Union members last week agreed to use an EU-wide fund to provide an emergency loan to Greece, despite a 010 agreement, signed by all 8 EU leaders, prohibiting such a deal.

Eurosceptics last night said that any agreement reached by Mr Cameron and EU leaders will be worthless without treaty change.