Major shines in Majorca Major gets off Eurohook Major gets real in Majorca UK spikes funny money union UK realism wins Europoints Major tells EU to get real

CLAIMING an important victory for British realism, John Major left the European summit in Majorca yesterday, confident that he had persuaded his European partners to halt the drive towards more integration and re- examine the risks of monetary union.

Looking relaxed in shirtsleeves, at his final press conference, the Prime Minister appeared to relish the prospect of telling Tory Euro-sceptics that he had convinced his partners to abandon "old slogans" by discarding federal ideas.

After a summit which was overshadowed by market turmoil over monetary union, and by confusion over the EU's grand plans, Mr Major seized his opportunity to say, "We told you so", by reminding his partners that Britain had always warned against "high flown aspirations". Next year's inter- governmental conference (IGC) on EU reform would not be an "earth-shattering affair", he said, newly confident that he would win his battle for a limited agenda, with the more federalist plans off the table.

The Prime Minister rode the wave of the market turmoil by questioning the inevitability of monetary union, saying that "maybe" some countries would go ahead in 1999, but he would be "dumbfounded" if more than a handful of states were ready. "Once we were a lone voice crying in the wilderness. Now we are not alone," said one official.

Mr Major also signalled his intention to focus on calls for "variable geometry", a system under which member states would be able to proceed at various paces as the EU continues to evolve. Federalists warn that this amounts to an ad-hoc policy of take-it-or-leave-it, which could lead to the break up of the union. But Mr Major said that the system would become essential if the union expands to up to 30 states, as envisaged over the next few years.

But as the Majorca conference wound up there were signs that his hopes that he will be let off the European hook may be premature. Although Jacques Chirac, the French President, called for a "short IGC" probably finishing in 1996, Helmut Kohl, the German Chancellor, suggested the conference could not conclude until early 1997, which would fuel European debate ahead of a British election.

Several leaders stressed the IGC should look at the need for major institutional change, and both Mr Chirac and Mr Kohl renewed their commitment to the launch of the third stage of monetary union. Mr Kohl attempted to smooth over the controversy which erupted this week when Theo Waigel, German's Finance Minister, said Italy would not be ready to join the third stage in 1999. Mr Kohl said he "regretted" that his minister's remarks had been made public.

Disarray over monetary union and deepening doubts over how to tackle enlargement of the EU have given new weight to Britain's calls for a halt to integration. Negotiations to bring some new countries from central and eastern Europe into the EU are due to start six months after the completion of the IGC, and the "political and economic realities" have yet to examined, Mr Major warned.

He urged his partners to beware of a "Europe divided into two", should a small hard core decide to go ahead leaving a larger group in an outer ring.

German upset, page 15