EUROCRATS used to annoy the British by telling them their country was bound one day to join the euro. Such talk has stopped with the euro crisis. Now the way to bait the Brits is to dismiss them as irrelevant because their country is on its way out of the European Union. Such was the warning of Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, in a recent speech in London: “How do you convince a room full of people, when you keep your hand on the door handle?”Influence in the EU is like the Brussels drizzle: ubiquitous, but also hard to pinpoint. It shifts with time and subject. Many detect the chill of waning British influence, particularly since David Cameron announced his intention to renegotiate Britain’s membership and call a referendum. Yet a clear trend of decline is hard to see. Mr Cameron has just celebrated his triumph in negotiating a real-terms cut in the budget. Britain remains the most potent force in liberalising the single market and promoting free trade (the EU has just started talks on a trade deal with America). In EU foreign policy, Britain shares top billing with France.Now, however, many see Britain’s isolation over EU legislation setting…
