The sidelining principle

It is amusing that because of internal party politics David Cameron is seeking to block the appointment of Luxembourger Jean-Claude Juncker as EU commission president (with the Lib Dems and Labour, in the absence of any coherent policy themselves, tagging along), yet because of internal party politics, he seems doomed to fail.  On becoming Tory leader, he kept to his promise to the Eurosceptic grassroots (when outflanking his rival David Davis) to pull the Conservative party out of the mainstream right-wing EPP in the European Parliament instead forming a hodge-podge coalition of unsavoury elements further along the spectrum in being right-wing.  The Polish foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, said had Cameron remained within the EPP his argument might have prevailed but as the EPP selected Juncker and 'won' the European elections, Juncker will be president.
But Sikorski gave Cameron a get-out-of-jail card, saying there could be widespread support for 'sensible' British proposals for renegotiation (lest we forget, Cameron's promise of an in/out referendum was again prompted by internal party politics): "We call it, in the Brussels jargon, the subsidiarity principle – to leave what is possible at the level of the member state and then do together those things where we all gain by working together, say on energy and defence."  It's small crumb of comfort to Downing Street but they have only got themselves to blame in sidelining themselves from having a say over the next commission president.