UK and Brussels

UK influence in Brussels wanes as Cameron faces defeat

Press quote (Bloomberg)
19 May 2014

That lack of clout undermines Cameron’s search for allies to help him repatriate powers from Brussels, a pledge he says will convince voters to opt to stay in the EU, according to Charles Grant, director of the London-based Centre for European Reform. British influence threatens to weaken still further as high-profile Britons in Brussels pack their bags without anyone of caliber to replace them, Grant said in an interview.

“If we send medium-to-lightweight politicians to Brussels, then obviously they’re not going to get good, influential jobs,” said Grant, a biographer of Jacques Delors, commission president from 1985 to 1995. “If you don’t have a good communicator who commands respect, then it will be harder to win a referendum campaign for staying in.”