David Cameron has told other EU leaders that they have a chance to settle Britain's relationship with Europe for a generation but that he must secure a strong enough deal to persuade the British people to remain in the EU.
At the start of a two-day summit in Brussels, the British prime minister said that such a resolution was a big prize for both Britain and its partners.
“The question of Britain’s place in Europe has been allowed to fester for too long and it is time to deal with it. But if we can reach agreement here that is strong enough to persuade the British people to support UK membership of the EU, then we have an opportunity to settle this issue for a generation,” he said.
Mr Cameron sought to present Britain’s renegotiation as a deal that could benefit the entire EU by acknowledging that different states wanted varying levels of integration with the others.
“It is an opportunity to move to a fundamentally different approach to our relationship with the EU, what some might call ‘live and let live’, reflecting that those states that wish to integrate further can do so, while those of us that don’t can be reassured that their interests will be protected and will not need to fight these at every turn,” he said.
European Council president Donald Tusk opened the meeting with an assessment of the state of negotiations on Britain's demands, identifying the remaining contentious issues. These include the details of safeguards governing the relationship between the euro zone and countries which do not use the currency; whether those safeguards and Britain's opt-out from the commitment to "ever-closer union" should be enshrined in the EU treaties; and restrictions on welfare benefits for workers from other EU member-states.
The draft text under discussion proposes that countries outside the euro zone could in some circumstances refer decisions on economic governance and financial regulation to the European Council. They would not, however, have a veto over such decisions as they would be determined in the European Council by qualified majority voting.
Britain wants an undertaking to enshrine these measures and the opt-out from “ever-closer union” in the EU treaties at some time in the future, something other member-states believe is unnecessary. Senior EU diplomatic sources suggested last night that most EU leaders acknowledged that the promise of future treaty change is politically necessary for Mr Cameron and would concede the point.
Immigration
There was broad agreement on Thursday night on a proposal to allow Britain to apply for an “emergency brake” to limit in-work benefits to workers from other EU member states for a number of years. Although this would also, in theory, be available to other member states which are experiencing high levels of immigration from other EU member-states, only Britain is expected to be in a position to invoke it.
The most divisive issue under discussion was a proposal to index the payment of child benefits for children living abroad, paying them at the rate applicable in their home country.
Britain initially sought to limit such payments with immediate effect but a possible compromise could see payments indexed immediate for children of new migrants living abroad but phased in for those of migrants already living in the country. This measure could be applied by any member state, making it much more significant for poorer countries than a cut to in-work benefits in Britain alone.
If a deal is agreed on Friday, France and Belgium are seeking to write into the official communique at the end of the summit making clear that any deal Mr Cameron secures cannot be improved on, effectively ruling out a second referendum.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was in Brussels for a meeting of European centre-left parties, dismissed Mr Cameron's renegotiation as irrelevant.
"The referendum isn't about these terms, it isn't about what David Cameron has said or not said over the last few days, few weeks or even few months. What it will be about, quite simply, is should Britain remain part of the European Union or not. That's going to be the decision," he said.
