Cameron set to rule out Lisbon vote

David Cameron is poised to rule out a referendum on the Lisbon treaty, according to Conservative insiders.

They said an announcement would come “very soon” after the Czechs agreed to full ratification of the package of European Union reforms.

The Tories are drawing up tactics to negotiate a repatriation of powers from Brussels over employment and social laws.

This core Conservative manifesto commitment will be presented by Mr Cameron as the best alternative to a referendum, once the treaty has been ratified.

One option is to hijack the process through which Croatia would join the EU. The Croatian accession will require a new treaty as soon as 2011, which could act as a legal vehicle to enshrine UK opt-outs. This is seen as a more pragmatic approach than attempting to reopen the Lisbon treaty immediately on taking office, risking a showdown with European leaders.

“It’s a classic way of dealing with issues in Europe if you have a problem,” said one European diplomat.

The Tory leader intends to set out his policy on relations with the EU soon after Vaclav Klaus, the Czech Republic president, has signed the treaty, removing the last barrier to its ratification – a move government officials said could come as early as Tuesday night.

The Czech constitutional court on Tuesday ruled that the Lisbon treaty does not violate the country’s constitution, opening the way for Mr Klaus to sign the pact.

Mr Cameron paved the way on Monday for scrapping the referendum policy. “Times are changing,” he told a London press conference. “We are getting closer to the point where the treaty … becomes part of European law.”

The Tories rejected suggestions of an impending U-turn, saying their pledge to hold a referendum applied only while the treaty was awaiting ratification. Mr Cameron gave a “cast-iron guarantee” in 2007 that “if I become PM a Conservative government will hold a referendum on any EU treaty”.

But aides said it was unfair to hark back to the remarks in an interview with The Sun, as the pledge had to be seen in the context of the expectation then that a general election was likely in weeks.

A leading business group warned that a Tory government’s negotiations on the repatriation of powers could be complicated by a resurgent issue: Britain’s opt-out from European law over a maximum 48-hour working week.

Employers’ concerns over the working time directive were assuaged in April, when talks on a European parliamentary challenge to the UK opt-out collapsed. But the EEF manufacturers’ group fears a Commission report this month – ostensibly about how employees on call are dealt with under the law– could reopen the wider question of how the opt-out works.

“This report is going to open up the debate on just about everything, including the individual opt-out,” David Yeandle, head of employment policy at the EEF, told the Financial Times. “It’s disappointing that it’s going to come back on the agenda quite so quickly.”