I've been on my travels in the heart of darkness this week, known to some people as Brussels and its empire. What a week for the EU!

First, the ECOFIN meeting at which France and Germany announced that they would simply ignore the Stability Pact. There could be no clearer demonstration of the lunacy of the euro - or, to be more accurate, the the changes to wider economic policy necessitated by the transfer to the euro - than this piece of breathtaking hypocrisy. For the new member states, and for countries like Portugal, rules must be implemented, however ruinous they may be. To the likes of the French and Germans, rules are there to be ignored whenever they see fit.

Most of the reaction has bordered on despair that such events are possible. Quite wrong. Those of us who think that entry into the euro, and further deepening of the EU, would be a disaster should be ecstatic that the French and Germans' actions have made so shiningly clear what is involved: lies, hypocricy and economic madness. This week has been one of the most marvellous of recent years for those of us who believe that democracy means allowing the people to decide how they want to be governed. The chances of us joining the euro were probably no more than ten per cent. Now I'd say they are, at least in the next 5 years or so, close to zero.

As part of that equation, of course, one has to factor in the Conservatives' revival, since if there exists a possibility of Conservative victory then Blair's euro-friendly options are narrowed still more. So long as the Conservatives were a joke under IDS, Blair had only public opinion to worry about. Now he has to worry about handing Michael Howard a campaigning issue.

In that context, here's my take on what seems at first glamce to be a bizarre series of briefings and counter-briefings on the draft constitution this week. The best way to understand what has been going on is to realise that, for ministers, it is not about the future of the EU but the future of their careers. Thus this week's events have been a proxy for the wider political battles within the government.

Take the TB-GBs. No10 has been seething about Brown’s behaviour since
returning from holiday and paternity leave. The first thing he did when he returned to the fray was to write a piece for the Wall Street Journal saying how he was going to stand up for Britain and for enterprise, a move designed to piss off No 10, who have complained ever since about his shameless politicking. Hence the Prime Minister's tougher rhetoric this week.

This all has nothing to do with what the UK might or might not do when push comes to shove over the constitution; it has everything to do with the battles between Brown and Blair.

Add to the mix Jack Straw, who has suddenly started to talk like Rambo on the EU, and you'll see what I mean. Why his 'veto' rhetoric? Because he wants to show that he’s not Blair’s poodle (which is why, also, he has turned on the idea of ID cards). Straw is positioning himself for the leadership battle, and covering his back by allying with the obvious successor, Brown, in the most likely event that Straw doesn't win. Hence, again, his alliance with Brown over ID cards.

So there you have it: a battle over the future of the EU which has almost nothing to do with the future of the EU.