Washington and New York are perhaps not the obvious places to visit, if you want to gauge the mood in Germany. But, in recent days, I’ve had the chance to talk to a few German politicians and senior civil servants at a dinner and a conference. What they had to say was very striking.

I have never known the German establishment be quite so open about the depth of Euroscepticism in their own nation. Normally, the Germans talk about Euroscepticism as some sort of nasty British disease – while stressing their own country’s level-headedness and “European vocation”. Not any more. Read more