Tremors surrounding a revised EU constitution are exposing Britain’s true feelings about being a member of the European Union.

Later this week, Europe’s leaders will attend a summit in Brussels to discuss the future of the EU constitution. Signs already point toward a showdown over the newly devised “amended treaty,” designed to replace the larger, more inert EU constitution and appease dissenters.

In preparation for the summit, outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair had some hard words about what Britain will and will not accept in any forthcoming European Union treaty, the Guardian Unlimited reported.

On Monday, Mr. Blair outlined four key areas barred from negotiations, saying he would not compromise on any of them at the EU summit to take place this Thursday and Friday. The redline issues were singularly devoted to keeping the British government sovereign from EU domination: the fundamental charter of rights, foreign policy, common law, and tax and benefits. “We will not agree to give up our ability to control our common law and judicial and police system,” Mr. Blair stated, implying EU law would not be able to trump British law.

Some say Mr. Blair’s strong rhetoric was crafted for his largely anti-European integration public, and that he will weaken his “no compromise” attitude when he sits before Europe’s leaders later this week. But the incoming prime minister and current chancellor, Gordon Brown, is even more uncompromising than Blair when it comes to Britain’s place within the EU. Mr. Brown has hinted that if Mr. Blair fails to gain the concessions that would preserve British sovereignty, he will put the matter to a public referendum, a test which it almost certainly would fail.

Britain’s stance against EU integration puts it at odds with most other EU members, and most particularly Germany. Its position on the constitution will likely isolate the nation at the upcoming summit and put it “on a collision course with the German presidency of the EU” (Guardian Unlimited, June 18). As EU nations meet this week, Berlin is hoping to anchor-bolt some sort of treaty before its presidency runs out at the end of the month.

Though the EU charter is still far from being set in stone, Britain has already exposed its unwillingness to cede too much control to Brussels. How long before this fracture between Britain and the EU leadership grows into a deep and decisive rift that will eventually see Britain operating outside of the European Union?