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Prime Minister David Cameron knows the UK economy would be devastated by the breakup of the eurozone, but he has previously vowed to use any attempt to change European treaties as a chance to repatriate powers to the UK. With treaty change on the agenda for Friday's crucial summit, Mr Cameron must decide between frustrating his European partners at their darkest hour or upsetting his party.
Mr Cameron's problem is that he doesn't know what powers he wants to repatriate. He has talked of protecting the City of London, yet the UK has been the prime mover behind attempts to create a post-crisis common European rule book for financial services. The City has the most to gain from a level playing field in Europe.
Meanwhile, Germany and France have made clear they have no intention of letting the UK turn what they hope will be a limited treaty change into a free-for-all that will require referenda across the eurozone. In an attempt to bully Mr. Cameron into line, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy this week threatened to bypass the 27-member European Union altogether and conclude a new treaty among the 17 members of the eurozone instead. This looks like a bluff. Although France would like a two-speed Europe with the UK on the outside, Germany wants to work through existing European institutions, keeping free-trading northern Europeans firmly inside. Any attempt to create a parallel governance framework would also create a legal minefield, since existing European institutions including the Commission, Parliament and Court of Justice represent the whole EU.