Press

"Britain is as isolated as it's ever been in the 25 years I've been following the EU," said Charles Grant, director of the pro-EU CER. "If I had to put money on it now, I think Britain will leave the EU in the next 10 years."

Charles Grant, director of the London based Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: "For the first time in the history of the EU, the Germans are now in charge."

Charles Grant, director of the CER think-tank, said that the developments would prove to be a "disaster" for the financial sector. "I can't think of a worse outcome for the City," he added. The rest of the EU would form a caucus "and tell us what they have decided".

"It is conceivable that a different British government could seek to reverse this disastrous opt-out," says Charles Grant, director of the CER. "More likely, Britain will continue on a path towards isolation, perhaps even leaving the EU itself."

Brussels-based Irish think-tanker Hugo Brady's take on the Cameron strategy: "If you're not at the table you're on the menu."

Grant opina que el resultado de la cumbre "es un desastre para Reino Unido y además amenaza la integridad del mercado único". También él apoya las intenciones de Cameron de defender los intereses de la City, pero subraya que jamás Gran Bretaña ha perdido una votación en un asunto realmente vital para su industria financiera y que, con el veto, "el Gobierno no ha conseguido ningún tipo de protección para la City".

"Nous devenons très détachés de l'Europe", souligne Charles Grant, directeur du CER. "Nous avons choisi d'être à l'extérieur de la salle quand des politiques économiques seront discutées qui risquent de mettre en danger le marché unique.

But Simon Tilford at the CER, says the new treaty does nothing to solve Europe's debt crisis. "The problem is that fiscal austerity will not solve this crisis, at least not alone. Fiscal austerity has in many ways become part of the crisis. Enforcing unending austerity on countries in the periphery has already made their predicaments much worse and threatens to make a bad situation in Spain and Italy even worse than it currently is." Mr Tilford says whether Britain will be weaker for staying out of the deal depends on what happens to the euro area.

Simon Tilford, from the CER agreed, "This week's summit will do little to solve the fundamentals of this crisis."... Mr Tilford told Channel 4 News the summit should have agreed a fully-fledged fiscal union. Instead, all it had done was tinker. "This is little different from what the eurozone already had: the stability and growth pact. All it does is require states to keep their budget deficits under 3 per cent. That is not a fiscal union, which would mean a federal budget and revenue-raising powers," he said. ...