Her narrative fits rather neatly with concerns at the UK level, particularly among UK Conservatives.
After the 2009 European elections the UK Conservatives formed a new Eurosceptic grouping - the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR).
Ms Harman said Labour was bringing forward laws to require all peers and MPs to pay tax in the UK and attacked the Conservatives.
Mr Shapps rejected the suggestion of an electoral pact between the Conservatives and the UK Independence Party - which wants the UK to leave the European Union - at the next General Election.
Top Conservatives generally hope the UK will remain in the EU. The problem is that they are caught between a rock and a hard place.
FORBES: Horsemeat for Dinner, Globalism under Fire, and the Future of the Human Condition
The leader of the Conservatives said that the UK government's main priority was to reduce the deficit, and stressed that Wales must play its part in doing this.
After the UK Independence Party leapfrogged both Labour and the Conservatives to finish second, Mr Mitchell said the result showed Labour needed more of a "nationalist appeal".
She offered a defence of the Lib Dems' coalition with the Conservatives in Westminster, saying the UK government was "lifting millions of people out of paying income tax".
That's Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the UK Independence Party, the SNP, the Greens, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein.
The Conservatives say this latest increase in the UK's contribution proves that successive Labour governments have given away far too much to Europe.
Although Kensington and Chelsea is regarded as a safe Tory seat - Mr Clark held it with a majority of 9, 519 in 1997 - Mr Portillo faces competition for the right-of-centre vote from the Pro European Conservatives, the Referendum Party and the UK Independence Party among others.
Secondly, Conservatives had to take on opponents who say UK government welfare changes "are unnecessary and unfair".
BBC: David Cameron urges Welsh Tories to fight 'battle of ideas'
The prime minister has promised a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union if the Conservatives win in 2015.
The Conservatives are the last of the three main UK parties to hold their annual conference, running from Monday to Thursday in Manchester.
The BBC's Mark Easton recently reported that the Conservatives had suggested that violent crime in the UK had risen "significantly" - even though officials producing the statistics warn they should not be used in that way.
The Conservatives said Sir Michael had echoed their view that UK troops had long been over-stretched.
Back in the UK, the Chancellor George Osborne was facing complaints from some Conservatives that money was going on climate finance when budgets were being cut for services in Britain.
He also defended his choice to offer UK voters a referendum on EU membership after 2015 if the Conservatives win the next election, and said the 27-member bloc needed to change.
The report follows a year-long review by the Conservatives prompted by a Unicef report which put the UK at the bottom of a table of 21 rich countries for the well-being of children.
The Conservatives came second, with Labour in third and the UK Independence Party in fourth.
BBC: Nick Clegg 'shocked' as Chris Huhne quits after guilty plea
At the local elections last week, UKIP - which campaigns for the UK to leave the EU - made substantial gains, while the Conservatives lost control of 10 councils.
BBC: PM promises 'proper choice' on EU after Lawson comments
Meanwhile, Joseph Daul, leader of the centre-right EPP group - of which the British Conservatives used to be a member - hit out at UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
Unlike the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats aren't too keen on the UK Government's council tax freeze idea.
He railed against the Conservatives for focusing on Europe in the light of the profile of the UK Independence Party.
BBC: NEWS | Programmes | BBC Parliament | Prime Minister's Questions
The Conservatives will offer voters the prospect of "real change" in the UK's relationship with Europe at the next election, David Cameron has said.
That was before the UK government set up a commission to look at the question - and today the Conservatives highlighted Ed Miliband's desision to ignore the issue.
The Conservatives finished third in Eastleigh, in Hampshire - behind the Liberal Democrats and the UK Independence Party (UKIP).
That, of course, would be easier for the prime minister if the Conservatives were so badly beaten they were in disarray, and splintering - as the UK Independence Party hope - at the time.
Asked about the plan, UK Education Secretary Michael Gove - who was born and brought up in Scotland - said the Scottish Conservatives should be allowed to "choose their own destiny".
However, many Conservatives have been pressuring the government to commit to a referendum on the question of whether the UK remains in the EU - a so-called "in-out vote".
应用推荐