France and Germany are reportedly looking at some form of closer entente. Paradoxically enough, despite the tone of this account in the Daily Telegraph of these developments, such moves shouldn’t be any great cause for concern: if anything, these steps are a recognition that Paris and Berlin are gradually coming to the realization that their wider project – a quasi-federal EU – is increasingly unlikely to succeed.

Of course, there’s another striking aspect to this story. There’s no mention of what the electorates of these two countries have to say about this news. There’s a good reason for this. As usual, they have not been consulted, and, as usual with elite schemes such as this, they are unlikely to approve.