Cameron Wants a United States of Europe

London—British Prime Minister David Cameron reiterated his calls for a more unified and integrated eurozone before the House of Commons Liaison Committee September 6. On the same day, his chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, made the same calls, saying, “In the eurozone, member countries must follow the remorseless logic of monetary union and make more progress on institutional reform and fiscal integration.”

“This is the only way to convince financial markets that the euro has a stable future,” he said.

Cameron made similar statements, pointing out that Europe needs more integration for the euro to work. “To make a single currency work either you need all the countries to behave in a more Germanic-like way in terms of fiscal responsibility and debt levels, or you need to have some way of transfers between countries,” he said. Both options would require more integration.

Both men argue that Britain benefits from a financially secure Europe as a trading partner and therefore Britain should encourage the eurozone to further unite—taking, as they see it, the only path to financial stability.

Britain, however, would opt out of that integration. “We must ensure we are not part of that integration and our national interests are protected and promoted at all points,” said Osborne.

Banks and politicians around the world are making the same kind of points. Herman van Rompuy said on September 7 at a speech at the London School of Economics that further European integration is “written in the stars.”

“One of the lessons that we have to draw from the current crisis is that we need more fiscal integration, but not without fiscal discipline,” he said.

A newly released report by Swiss bank ubs states that “the euro does not work.”

“Either the current structure will have to change, or the current membership will have to change,” it writes.

Many commentators believe that Europe’s crisis will only get worse. The New York Times quotes George Soros warning that “This crisis has the potential to be a lot worse than Lehman Brothers.” Financial Times columnist Wolfgang Münchau wrote an article titled “The worst of the euro crisis is yet to come,” where he warns:

There is, as yet, little recognition in the eurozone’s cacophonous capitals that an economic downturn poses an existential threat. I would expect therefore that the downturn will hit the eurozone with full force, and without defense. When that happens, the eurozone crisis will turn ugly.

Financial conditions are about to force some eurozone nations to integrate more closely. But a farsighted British foreign policy would not rejoice at this. British foreign policy for centuries has been to prevent a united power from dominating the Continent. What Cameron is supporting will be very dangerous for Britain.