It is not clear if Germany means to give the EU greater scope for action or treat it, as many others do, as the mere servant of national governments.

ECONOMIST: France, Germany and the European Union

British Labour MEP Linda McAvan was more critical, and disagreed with Commissioner Dalli's claim that ethical considerations were outside of the scope of EU legislation.

BBC: Cloned meat debate

Others, including the Maastricht veteran, Bill Cash, simply didn't believe that the EU would be prepared to give Britain what it wanted - to which the retort was that the current crisis gave Britain a lot of leverage, and that the EU needed Britain more than Britain needed the EU, so there was plenty of scope for negotiation.

BBC: New thinking on Europe