UK urged to keep strong voice in EU
2013-01-10 15:23
London - The US has publicly expressed concerns about
Britain's plans to renegotiate its relationship with the EU, with a senior
official saying Washington favours a "strong British voice" in
Europe.
The comments by Philip Gordon, the US assistant secretary
for European affairs, come ahead of a major speech by Prime Minister David
Cameron this month in which he is expected to promise a referendum on Britain's
membership.
"We have a growing relationship with the EU as an
institution, which has an increasing voice in the world, and we want to see a
strong British voice in that EU," Gordon told journalists in London, in
remarks reported in Thursday's press.
"That is in America's interests. We welcome an
outward-looking EU with Britain in it."
Gordon warned that "referendums have often turned
countries inward", and raised concerns about the time spent discussing the
EU's structures.
"Every hour at a summit spent debating the
institutional make-up of the EU is one hour less spent on how to deal with the
common issues of jobs, growth and international peace around the world,"
he said.
However, he stressed: "What is in the UK's interests
is up to the UK."
In his long-awaited speech later this month, Cameron is
expected to set out his plans to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the
EU, including taking back powers, and to put that settlement to voters.
Cameron is under intense pressure from euro-sceptic
members of his Conservative party, including Mayor of London Boris Johnson who
called in a speech last month for a purely trade-based relationship with
Brussels.
But Cameron's plans have raised concerns among British
business leaders, who wrote him an open letter on Wednesday warning that a
renegotiation of membership risked an exit from Europe, with
"damaging" consequences for the economy.
Following Gordon's comments, a spokesperson for Cameron's
Downing Street office insisted: "The US wants an outward-looking EU with
Britain in it, and so do we."
