Bad news for European anglophiles (by Pedja dell'Arno)

The decision by Prime Minister David Cameron to veto the new European fiscal arrangements and the subsequent marginalization of the UK from the new agreement is bad news for many European anglophiles. Although Britain is still a member of the European Union, and we still benefit from easy access to the British labour market and easy communication with London, if this marks a new era in which London and Europe will be gradually more separated, it is hard to see how this could be good news. Most probably, it is good news for fiscal policy and in the short run it may be good to stop the euro crisis. But from a cultural point of view, if this is a first step to a gradual de-integration, this may mean in the future less links between continental and British universities, less contacts between executives and workers, less relationships between artists and cultural elites. London is an intrinsic part of Europe and Europe without London is less Europe. The continent needs the reminder that there is a big multi-cultural city accross the channel that is one of the cultural capitals of the world. It is hard to see how this would have happenned under a Labour government.