Nosemonkey analyses Miliband's speech for us:

Is this part of the “new diplomacy” being promised by the Foreign Office since Miliband took over? Choosing locations guaranteed to raise spectres of past confrontations to get everyone in Brussels suspicious from the get-go after months of barely looking in the direction of the Continent, and with Gordon Brown still seemingly utterly uninterested in the whole concept of the EU? Setting up stall in seemingly explicit opposition to the most secure politician on the continent, furthering the Anglo-French divide that has blighted all efforts at serious EU reform (most importantly of the Common Agricultural Policy) for decades?

This doesn’t strike me as a new approach at all. The choice of Bruges for Miliband’s speech was perfect - for it demonstrates that Brown’s EU policy is going to be exactly the same as that of every other British Prime Minister since Heath lost office: try to pretend it isn’t there as much as you can, then spout vague platitudes about free trade, irritate the French, then bugger off again.

Yep, when it comes to the EU, under Brown it seems to be business as usual. Yet another reason for paying no attention to anything Brown and co say on the matter.

He thinks the "vision" is one of a multi-tier EU focused about the free-market provisions and screw the rest. Maybe it is time to pursue a multi-speed EU: so long as there are protections against free-riding similar to those applied to European Economic Area members. I only realised recently that EEA members contribute to things like the cohesion funds.

My new plan for the EU:

• Pass the reform treaty
• Start the campaign for a further integrated enhanced Europe with greater authority for the Parliament on a multi-speed basis.
• Leave the skeptics and those who are beholden to other powers behind. They can join us when they want.