THE outgoing president of the European Commission will today warn David Cameron he could make a "historic mistake" by alienating eastern European countries as he attempts to renegotiate the UK's links with Brussels.
With the prospect of a referendum on leaving the European Union a possibility if the Conservatives keep a grip on power after the 2015 General Election, Jose Manuel Barroso will say individual countries like the UK could not retain "even marginal relevance" in a globalised world without the combined weight of the other member states.
The Prime Minister has promised to reform the UK's relationship with the EU ahead of an in/out referendum by the end of 2017 if he remains in office.
Mr Barroso will tell an audience at foreign affairs think-tank Chatham House that the European Commission will "constructively" engage in the discussions - but Mr Cameron will require allies in other EU governments to succeed.
Mr Barroso will warn: "It is an illusion to believe that space for dialogue can be created if the tone and substance of the arguments you put forward question the very principle at stake and offend fellow member states.
"It would be an historic mistake if Britain were to continue to alienate its natural allies in central and eastern Europe, when you were one of the strongest advocates for their accession."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article