For them, any excuse will do, and EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier has provided them with ammunition by pursuing what many see as an excessively restrictive regulatory agenda. When horse-trading for Commission jobs took place in 2009, former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown was warned of the danger of allowing the French to hold the Internal Market post.
部分是出于政治原因。卡梅伦的保守党中不乏长期以来都想和欧盟作对之士。对他们来说，任何借口都可以，而欧盟内部市场委员巴尼耶（Michel Barnier）正好提供了导火线——他提出了一个许多人看来过于严厉的监管日程。在2009年就卡梅伦上台事宜讨价还价时，前首相布朗就收到过警告，说让法国人把持内部市场委员的位子是十分危险的。但他选择了为其工党同侪阿什顿（Baroness Ashton）争取欧盟外交政策委员的位子。