At the last European council, the British government obtained a significant opt-out from its partners, including France - which Gordon Brown, the new UK prime minister, will visit today. While the reform treaty is supposed to ensure that "the Union recognises the rights, freedoms and principles set out in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of 7 December 2000", the UK has been given special status.

At first glance, this opt-out can be seen as a "victory" for the British authorities. Having signed the constitutional treaty and abstained from submitting it to ratification, they have thereby obtained additional concessions from their partners, which they consider to be in their national interest. The British government seems not to have realised to what extent this opt-out could have disastrous consequences in the long term.