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Lib Dem takes issue with Tories on EU

Thursday 8 September 2011 - by Regulation Mutters

Sharon Bowles, chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, has had her feathers ruffled by her party's partners in the British government.

The Liberal Democrat MEP believes eurosceptic Conservative MPs should hold back from trying to renegotiate the country's membership of the EU, at least at the current time of crisis.

In a tersely worded release issued by her office on Thursday, Bowles says the Tories risk doing lasting damage to Britain's interests in Europe.

It followed news that around 80 Conservative MPs intend to meet next week discuss a bid to reduce the country's financial stake in Europe.

"This latest bout of euroscepticism by Tory backbenchers will do yet more damage to the UK's reputation in Brussels and the notion that the UK should be using the financial crisis in the eurozone to renegotiate its role in the EU is incredibly damaging to our ability to negotiate at all levels.



"The eurozone debt crisis does affect the UK - we see this already on our stock market - and our energy should go into helping to resolve this issue, not trying to hold other member states hostage.

"Just because we do not have the euro it does not mean that UK banks do not have huge exposures to the debt of other European nations. For example, the UK has some €2tn ($2.8tn) exposure to France, so what hurts them hurts us."


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