But, during his speech, David Cameron repeatedly insisted that the European single market would be at the heart of any new treaty with Brussels, billed as the alternative to exiting the union.
German standoffishness toward the EU is now based in law: a 2009 ruling by Germany's Constitutional Court allowed it to ratify the Lisbon treaty but limited further transfers of power to Brussels.
While neither is in any way part of the Lisbon treaty, their eventual inclusion is not so outrageous an idea, for the morality ofBrussels is often prescribed upon all the E.
Mr Clegg said it was important to reassure the British public that legislation was already in place to trigger a referendum if a new treaty led to a "significant transfer of powers" to Brussels.
Many Eurosceptics are so blinded by hatred ofBrussels that they have failed to grasp what a huge defeat the Lisbon treaty has been for their opponents.
The failure to approve Mr. Hagel means that Mr. Panetta next week will travel to Brussels to represent the U.S. in meetings of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
When the French and Dutch voted against the EU constitution in 2005, Brussels officials muttered that it was nonsense to put the complex legalese of an EU treaty to ordinary people.
The latest news coming out of the European Union summit meeting in Brussels is that all but a few of the EU members have agreed to re-write some treaty rules to bolster the EU financial sector.