Bring back the Brits!
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In a surprise turn of events, the new UK foreign minister from the famously eurosceptic Conservative Party has used his first major speech to call for Britain to build up its influence in the EU. In particular he wants to boost the number of Britons joining the EU civil service.
Foreign Secretary William Hague used his 1 July speech at the Foreign Office to outline his vision for the UK's foreign policy. While he stressed relations with US, he also unexpectedly played up the importance of Europe.
Mr Hague laid into the previous Labour government's European policy, slamming it as "mystifying". He told his audience that "it is no longer sensible, or indeed possible, just to focus our effort on the largest countries at the expense of smaller members."
In particular, he criticised a failure to encourage British officials to join EU insitutions and warned of "a generation gap developing in the British presence in parts of the EU where early decisions and early drafting take place."
UK citizens make up less than 2 per cent of entry-level grade staff at the European Commission - despite the fact they represent 12 per cent of the bloc's population.
Critics are waiting to see if this speech really does represent a new commitment to the EU from the traditionally eurosceptic Conservatives.
The party itself recently came under fire for losing influence in Brussels last year when it quit the largest European Parliament group - the centre-right EPP - to form a smaller eurosceptic faction.
