David Cameron’s bid to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the European Union will be dealt a blow on Thursday when the French president tells the Prime Minister he is “obsessed with his own problems”, reports The Telegraph.
François Hollande will block Mr Cameron’s request for a change to the EU treaty to include a new settlement for Britain in Europe, The Telegraph has learnt.
Mr Hollande will tell the Prime Minister that he is opposed to amending the EU’s treaty on the grounds that change is not needed and might trigger a referendum in France.
The French President will dismiss the British case for renegotiation as a product of Tory political disarray over the rise of Ukip, accusing Mr Cameron of being "obsessed with his own problems”.
The warning will come at a meeting of the European Council summit in Brussels, where leaders will discuss sanctions on Russia and talks to improve the functioning of the eurozone next June.
“The price to keep Britain in Europe keeps getting higher and higher. It is now up to the UK to decide,” said a senior French government source.
“We will not pay an extra price to keep the UK in the EU.”
European diplomats are expecting Mr Cameron to use the opportunity, if he wins British elections next May, to table demands for a “new settlement for Britain in Europe”.
The Prime Minister’s renegotiation will be hitched to EU treaty changes required to address the Eurozone crisis. It is expected to include an opt-out for Britain on the core principle of “ever-closer union”.
But President Hollande will remind Mr Cameron that any treaty change will need the unanimous agreement of all EU countries, including France.
“There is no demonstration of the need for new rules and no urgency,” said the source.
Senior Conservatives have reacted with fury.
Liam Fox, the former defence secretary, said the French reaction was the “height of stupidity” and putting the entire European project at risk by ignoring the need for treaty change in the face of the eurozone crisis.
“The Prime Minister wants to get the best deal for Britain. To threaten to veto treaty change, before you know what the proposed change is going to be, is utterly symptomatic of how utterly out of touch the current European leaders are.
“They ignore the need for change, and plough on relentlessly towards their 1950s objective of ever-closer union. If they break, it is because they won’t bend.”
It comes as a Foreign Office report published yesterday suggested that the EU is only playing "lip service" to the role of national parliaments and is increasing its grip on everyday life in Britain, and Foreign Office report has found.
The final Balance of Competences review suggests that the EU is guilty of "mission creep" and is imposing an unnecessary burden on British businesses.
The report suggests that controversial EU legislation such as the working time directive, domestic water standards, car safety seats and agency working standards should be handled by Britain.
At an EU summit in June next year, Mr Cameron, if in government, will be asked to make concrete proposals for treaty change by the autumn of 2015 but senior European diplomats warn that Britain’s political capital is low.