As it was, he fully accepted Merkel’s austerity agenda – which his own government is implementing independently – and chose to veto proposals for a new European treaty to protect the City of London. This cheered up the Euroskeptics in Cameron’s Conservative Party, but it offered nothing to counter the lethal medicine prescribed by Germany’s Iron Lady.
如果卡梅伦手里有一份经济发展议程的话，那么他就能在会上争取某些实实在在的东西，因此也不会缺少盟友。但一如既往，他全盘接受了默克尔的经济紧缩议程——因为他的政府早就自顾自地实施该议程了——并为了保护伦敦金融城而选择否决一个新的欧洲条约。此举取悦了卡梅伦所属保守党内部的欧洲怀疑主义者，却对德国铁娘子所开出的致命药方无所作为。