Inside some european minds

You have to wonder what the Frankfurt Group were on when they thought parachuting in Papademos and Monti would make much difference.

First, the individuals. Papademos at the very least connived in the falsification of Greek statistics which allowed the country into the euro in the first place. If there's one man who can be relied on to pronounce his reforms a success even as they crumble like Greece's subsidised Olympic legacy, it must surely be him. And John Redwood coolly dissects Monti's record of missing the main point by giving something to everyone. Not great choices, then, even if they were the most acceptable available.

More importantly, these technocrats have to get their measures past fractious domestic politicians. But that's worthless if they don't stick. How could one man make unpopular measures effective in a chronically misgoverned country within the few months before another election?

Elected ministers have difficulty getting policies implemented, even in the UK. What chance, then, do Monti & Papademos have of making their policies stick?

None.

Next, an insight into the mind of a French eurocrat:

Countries that are being bailed-out could have their credit ratings suspended temporarily, said markets commissioner Michel Barnier, speaking on French radio.

He said that the ratings agencies "won't have the right, if the ESMA decides, to rate certain countries for a certain time that are receiving an international support programme from the IMF or European Union."

We'll have no inconvenient truths here, thank you. Freedom of speech is secondary to our policy goals, whatever they are. In our EU, you are only allowed to discuss what we allow you to discuss.

This wasn't a slip of the tongue, as it reiterates pronouncements over the past few days. Never mind that it couldn't be made to stick. It's a chilling insight into the EU mindset.

Against this background, Cameron's speech on the EU last night was contemptibly pathetic. He evidently knows no EU history, and his team can't read the papers. Like other British governments before him, he thinks he can divert the determined drive of the EU juggernaut by pleading from an offshore island for tiny reforms.

Ignorance, stupidity, or a pathetic attempt at guile? As an attempt to reframe UK political debate about the EU it fails on all levels, with all audiences.