UK PM hails ‘pathway’ to deal
Cameron urges EU to address migration
BRUSSELS: Prime Minister David Cameron said he could see a pathway to a deal to keep Britain in the European Union after EU leaders told him at a summit in Brussels they would not accept discrimination against EU migrant workers in the UK.
“Nothing is certain in life, nor in Brussels, but what I would say is there is a pathway to a deal in February,” Mr Cameron told a news conference early yesterday after a substantial discussion of Britain’s demands to renegotiate the terms of its membership of the bloc before a referendum on whether to stay.
In his longest address in more than five years of attending EU summits, the conservative leader told the 27 other leaders that if they wanted to keep Britain in they must address his voters’ concerns about curbing immigration.
European Council President Donald Tusk, who chaired the session, said he was more optimistic after the discussion that an accord could be reached in February on all four key British demands because Mr Cameron was looking for a “fair compromise”.
He said Britain’s bid to deny EU migrants access to in-work benefits — an income supplement for the lower paid — for four years had caused the most difficulty.
The clearest message from the talk was that no one — including Mr Cameron — was ready to accept discrimination, Mr Tusk said: “This is unacceptable and for sure this is not the intention of our British partner.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe’s most influential leader, said there was a widespread will to reach an agreement to keep Britain in the EU.
“We made it clear that we are ready to compromise, but always on the basis that we safeguard the core European principles, which include non-discrimination and free movement,” she said.
Mr Cameron’s Eurosceptic opponents were dismissive, drawing attention to a brief official EU statement that concluded: “Following today’s substantive and constructive debate, the members of the European Council agreed to work closely together to find mutually satisfactory solutions in all the four areas at the European Council meeting on Feb 18-19.”
UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage said: “David Cameron came, saw and got hammered. How many times can his little plans be rejected? All he got as a result was a meaningless two sentences in a communique.”
Matthew Elliott of the Vote Leave campaign said: “David Cameron’s EU renegotiation is trivial ... He claimed he put in ‘hard work’ for Britain but people will look at this and not believe his spin.”
Officials said there was no row, despite the occasional sharp word to Mr Cameron, who himself put on a determined and eloquent charm offensive.
Some of those involved in the past months of detailed behind-the-scenes negotiations were upbeat, saying Mr Cameron had signalled a willingness to consider alternatives and other leaders had engaged with the issue and given a clear signal to their teams to “go away and solve this” within two months.
French President Francois Hollande said it had been “a frank and open discussion”.
“There can be adjustments, accommodation, but European rules and principles must be respected,” Mr Hollande said, noting there were difficulties about Britain’s relationship with the euro single currency zone as well as on migration.
Britain wants guarantees that the eurozone will not gang up to discriminate against the City of London financial centre on regulation. Mr Hollande said countries outside the euro must not be allowed to prevent further integration of the eurozone.