William Hague tells European leaders UK will engage with EU

The foreign secretary, William Hague, will today reassure European leaders that the incoming government will engage fully with the EU and play a leading role in talks on a common foreign policy. In an article published in Europe's World , a Brussels-based policy journal, Hague uses unusually positive language about the EU, describing it as "an institution of enormous importance to the United Kingdom and to British foreign policy". The foreign secretary outlines the government's backing for efficiency measures to improve competitiveness across Europe, but adds: "Just as the Conservative-led government in the UK will be active in all these areas of internal EU policy, so will we be energetically involved from the outset in the EU's external policy challenges." Hague argues the EU should be "more muscular and demanding" in Bosnia, pushing for a stronger central government, as a demonstration to the world "of the EU's seriousness as a regional actor". Although noting that the Conservative party has taken "a particular view" on the utility and purpose of EU institutions, "we have always argued that it is in the common interests of the nations of Europe that we should use our collective weight in the world to mutual advantage and to promote our shared values". Hague argues that the EU has not shown enough determination and consistency in foreign policy. "This Conservative-led government will be a strong advocate of the European Union's collective demonstration of those qualities," the foreign secretary writes. He says the new government will work closely with the Labour-appointed EU high representative for foreign policy, Baroness Cathy Ashton. Hague defends Conservative plans to try to repatriate some powers previously transferred to Brussels "to reassure people that the European Union can be responsive to people's concerns". He gives the example of the EU working time directive which sets a 48-hour ceiling on the working week. The previous Labour government obtained a blanket opt-out from the directive but NHS doctors decided to opt in. Hague argued that was damaging patient care in Britain. The tone of his article, however, was conciliatory. Hague said that the new government's policies were intended "not to frustrate or sabotage the operation of the European Union but to put Britain's role in the EU on a more positive footing". The Conservatives have already watered down the Euroscepticism of their manifesto in last week's coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats. A UK sovereignty bill, which could be used to overturn European laws, is now seen as unlikely under a coalition government. Hague does not mention it in his article. Other European leaders are unlikely to agree to attempts to make Britain an exception to more EU rules.