David Cameron finally made his long-awaited speech demanding a new deal for Britain in the European Union.
He displayed again the old British ambivalence toward Europe. The prime minister wanted a quick political fix, to quiet his rightwing rebels and to boost his flagging domestic popularity, but he delivered it at the expense of political and economic damage to Europe, to Britain and probably to Cameron himself.
He promised that if he were re-elected at Britain's next elections due by 2015, he would renegotiate the country's membership in the European Union, and put the resulting deal to a straight "in or out" referendum allowing the British people to choose. Any decision therefore is five or more years away.