Prime Minister David Cameron has taken a risky path with his delicately balanced position on Britain’s future in Europe - seeking to mend ruptures in his party, reassure business and win public backing without alienating EU partners.
In his much-anticipated speech yesterday, Cameron said the EU was no longer working in Britain’s interest, calling on the one hand for a far looser union - acting more like a network - while also promising a referendum that could see Britain leave the bloc.
However, analysts were quick to point out that renegotiation of EU treaties would open a Pandora’s box and unleash a process that few could control.
If he fails to win the demanded concessions, Cameron may have little choice but to advocate leaving the EU.
“While stating that he wants the UK to remain part of the EU, the risk is that the EU may not agree to the changes he wants to see, raising the possibility that he may actually campaign to withdraw from the EU,” analysts at ING bank commented.
On the other hand, British demands could prompt other countries to call for caveats of their own, threatening to unravel the 27-member bloc.
Back home, the speech brought Cameron sorely needed recognition from the large eurosceptic bloc in his Conservative party, while also appearing to win back a political narrative driven by the steadily growing anti-European UK Independence Party.
But outside Britain, it provoked an onslaught of anger at the idea that one member state could fundamentally change the rules of the European club.
Foreign ministers in Berlin, Paris and Madrid fired a volley of metaphors, insisting that: Britain cannot “cherry-pick”; should not join a game of football and switch midway to rugby; and that Cameron was slowing the EU engine.
“Attempting to revisit major parts of the (EU treaties) and picking and choosing the bits of which the UK approves sets a dangerous precedent,” said European Parliament President Martin Schulz, warning of its potential to break up the union.
Luxembourg’s premier, Jean-Claude Juncker, said that you couldn’t “arrange dinner at an Italian restaurant and then say, ‘but I’m only eating Chinese’ - and then smash the furniture when you don’t get Chinese food”.
Further afield, even Washington has registered fears of a “Brexit” - which prompted US President Barack Obama to telephone Cameron ahead of his speech and urge caution.
Britain has already antagonised its EU partners in recent years by blocking legislation seen as crucial to resolving the bloc’s economic crisis, obstructing budget talks and deciding to opt out of a raft of common police and justice measures.
But, despite the temptation to rid itself of a troublemaker, there is a strong current of EU opinion that the bloc would be better served by a Britain driving change from within.