THE British government yesterday set itself firmly against the further erosion of the powers of national parliaments and "the gradual development of a United States of Europe".
In its long awaited White Paper outlining London's approach to the forthcoming EU Inter Governmental Conference, Mr John Major's government reaffirmed its unambiguous commitment to EU membership.
But its vision for the future Europe - "a partnership of nations" - reflected the growing Euro scepticism of the Conservative Party, and carried a flat rejection of a "monolithic, centralised, federal" Union.
In a careful balancing act, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, told MPs Britain would play a leading role in the EU "as one of Europe's biggest and most powerful nations". But he declared: "The government believes the European Union will only succeed if it respects the integrity of the independent democratic nation states which comprise its membership; and if it is flexible enough to accommodate their political and cultural differences."
Mr Rifkind noted that the treaty on European union called for ever closer union among the peoples of Europe" - and not among the states of Europe or among their governments. And he said this aspiration was both noble and fully shared by the British government.
"But it should not mean an ever closer political union in the sense of an inexorable drift of power towards supra national institutions, the erosion of the powers of national parliaments, or the gradual development of a United States of Europe." The EU, he said, "must develop with the instincts of free people in free nations".
He continued: "As the European Union matures it needs a clearer sense of what it is, and of what it should never aspire to be."
Mr Rifkind spoke of the urgent need to improve Europe's competitiveness and of the "hard choices" to be faced on future financing and a single currency.
Outlining British government objectives for the IGC, he said it would:
. bring forward proposals to further entrench the principle of "subsidiarity".
. press for Treaty amendment to ensure the original purpose of EU directives is fully respected.
. press for new measures to improve the quality of European legislation, and
. oppose the transfer of further powers to the European Parliament at the expense of national parliaments or governments.
The White Paper asserts that Common Foreign and Security Policy "must remain based on unanimity and be intergovernmental in character". The same goes for co operation in areas of justice and home affairs as "matters of high political sensitivity involving questions of national sovereignty".
On defence Mr Rifkind was equally clear: "Nato must remain the bedrock of Western security. The European Union, four of whose members are neutrals, and who are neither in Nato nor the Western European Union, cannot expect to take decisions on defence policy, or on the use of military forces.
Mr Rifkind said they would press for "improvements" in the operation of the European Court of Justice, given concern "that the ECJ's interpretations sometimes seem to go beyond what governments intended when laws were framed".
Suggesting changes to the system of voting in the European Council, Mr Rifkind said it "must not allow countries representing a significant percentage of the EU's population or the major net contributors as a group to be outvoted".
And he reaffirmed that, "at a time when there is concern about Europe attempting to do too much", Britain would oppose any extension of qualified majority voting at the IGC.