Europe braces for David Cameron’s EU demands after Tory election win

PM receives congratulations from European centre-right leaders but German paper says Tory victory is bad news for Europe

The rest of Europe rubbed its eyes in astonishment at the stunning UK election outcome and braced itself for two years of gruelling negotiations over Britain’s future in the European Union.

Following 18 months of shadow-boxing and what senior diplomats in Brussels called the “phoney war” over David Cameron’s EU referendum gamble, the prime minister’s second-term mandate clears the air. He will now have to come clean on what concessions he hopes to win from the rest of the EU in order to keep Britain in the union.

“The ball is very much in the court of the UK now,” said a senior EU official. “It’s up to the British to define what they want.”