This is good news. Despite Brown's commitment to a 'new multilateralism', he has appeared semi-detached towards the European Union, not least in scoring an embarassing own goal over the signing ceremony of the Lisbon Treaty. But perhaps that has proved a wake-up call: the attempt to play to the eurosceptic press gallery backfired.
But with the British political battle now joined over Europe, there has been a shift to a more positive case from the Brown government. And Britain's ability to promote a new multilateralism depends on building European support, rather than trying to leap over the most powerful multilateral club in the world in an attempt to reshape the global order.
Much of the agenda in my manifesto for the World after Bush depends on that commitment to Britain 'punching our weight in Europe'.
This credible global Europe depends on Britain being fully engaged. The jury is still out. The UK is the most globally engaged of any society, and the most globally open major economy. We have most to gain from global cooperation, and most to lose if it fails. We must make full use of our membership of the EU, the world's most powerful, democratic multilateral force.
So the British government needs to stop telling the public it is protecting us from the worst of the European project – and start making the positive case that we only punch our weight through Europe if we want our voice to count. Politicians who talk about climate change or global development are simply not credible if they shy away from the essential means to deliver.
There will still be choppy waters ahead, but I am rather more optimistic about this than before Christmas.
But a key question remains: whether Britain and France can, with Germany, find enough common purpose to make a shared European agenda possible.
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