Vote Tory, Get Brussels

Further evidence in today's Financial Times that the Tories will be just as enthusiastic about the EU project as they always have been. I'm not going to dwell on this too much, suffice to say these passages speak for themselves regarding how little will change should the Tories win:

William Hague said on Tuesday that the Conservatives had made “a strategic decision” not to pick a fight with Europe if they won the election, insisting that a Tory government would be “highly active and activist in European affairs from day one”.

and:

Mr Hague said he wanted the new EU external action service to succeed and would deploy top British diplomats to Brussels to make it work. He said Europe needed to speak with a strong single voice on the Balkans, energy security and dealings with Russia.

Despite concerns that the External Action Service could replace the FCO, is uncosted and unaccountable Hague wants it to speak with a strong voice. And (my emphasis):

Mr Hague said that a Tory government would try to repatriate powers in employment and social law and fundamental civil rights from Brussels, if other EU member states insisted on a treaty change.

'Tries' and 'ifs'. Well that has me convinced. And:

But the former Tory leader warned that there were limits to his tolerance of EU integration and suggested that future battles lie ahead over defence and any proposals to create a European Monetary Fund.

Limits eh? Reassuring to know that current EU integration hasn't yet reached the limits of Hague's tolerance. I wonder where the marker is? At what point will he say no?