David Cameron's strategy of exploiting the euro crisis to renegotiate the terms of Britain's EU membership and claw back powers from Brussels has run into stiff resistance from France.
At the close of an European Council summit focused on the future shape of the single currency, François Hollande declared his opposition to an "à la carte" Europe where Member States may choose which bits of EU law should apply. The French president insisted Member States had to comply with the terms of EU treaties they had signed and ratified, saying: "Europe is not a Europe where you can take back competences. It is not Europe à la carte".
The chancellor, George Osborne, secured favourable procedures making it difficult for Britain to be outvoted by the 17 eurozone countries on banking supervision and regulation, as the euro area moves towards establishing a single supervisor for its banking sector.
"These debates about sovereignty and control are debates they are going to have to have", said Cameron. "As this plays out, this is changing the European Union. As it changes the European Union and the eurozone make changes that they need, so I believe there are opportunities for others, including Britain, to make changes ourselves."
Cameron is the first British prime minister actively advocating and pushing for the creation of a two-tier Europe.
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