The European Court of Justice (to oversimplify, that’s the EU’s “federal” court) has just produced a report that (effectively) shows which of the union’s member states are (or have been) in trouble for not being in compliance with EU law. Contrary to its euroskeptic reputation, the U.K. proves to have been a good European citizen. That’s no surprise to anyone who follows these matters, but it is still no cause for celebration.

Britain’s “Europe Minister,” one David Lidington, an individual who is apparently a member of the Conservative party, disagrees:

I was struck by the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) recent report that highlights how well Member States implement EU legislation that they have signed up to. I was pleased to see how the UK fares.

Good grief. The EU is many things, and one of the things it can be is a venue for the hardball assertion (paradoxically) of national interest, something that will occasionally involve a somewhat selective application of EU law on home turf. The French, for example, have always understood this. The Brits, hogtied by the pious imbecilities of the Lidingtons of this world, not so much.

Hopeless.