Today > Blog > Live Blog > D-Day for Britain’s new EU deal?
How many people likely to be affected by the migration rules in UK-EU package?
Open Europe's liveblog on the EU leaders summit, where Britain will be trying to conclude it's EU Reform deal. We will bring you key comments from EU politicians and our snap analysis as the day rolls on.
So there you have it. The deal is done, and the campaign can now kick off in earnest. You can see the arguments that Cameron is starting to develop around economic prosperity, security and on paying into social welfare systems before taking something out, in the “not something for nothing,” line. We’re signing off our liveblog for tonight, but we will be back in the morning with more. We are shortly publishing our response to the deal on our blog, so watch out for that.
The European Council Conclusions have also now been officially published.
Leaked by Alex Barker of The Financial Times. We will release our own analysis once we’ve had time to unpick it. I’ve also uploaded the documents in the PDF reader at the bottom of this blog, replacing the draft we had before.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s press conference is due to start shortly, along with a parallel press conference by European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker.
He says he has “delivered the best of both worlds,” with his renegotiation and can now recommend a Remain vote.
A unilateral safeguard can be activated if Britain feels it’s being discriminated against in the EU by the Eurozone.
And sovereignty, Cameron says the UK’s opt-out on ever closer union will be incorporated into the Treaties.
#Cameron: permanently carved UK out of ever closer union, can never be dragged into political union.
And the campaign has officially started, with Cameron making a plea to Remain in the EU, based on the security and economic argument.
Cameron confirms Michael Gove will be joining the Leave camp, and that he will soon be announcing the referendum date.
Cameron makes clear that a vote for Leave is a vote for Leave. There will be no “better deal” on the table after voting no.
There’s only one way to leave, he says, citing Article 50.
Staying in the EU does not mean reform ends there, he said.
The idea that a vote to leave the EU would lead to a whole new renegotiation, is an idea, frankly, for the birds.
According to Lithianian President Dalia Grybauskaitė.
Agreement #UKinEU done. Drama over.
And it may be better than expected for Brits on the euro/non-euro issue. Though, at this point this is just speculation, and we will have to wait to see the text.
One surprising, but small, win for UK: one non eurozone country alone can trigger discussions on problem ez laws. Agreed b/c no veto.
But it’s not very English, the Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat points out….
The Estonian Prime Minister says the dinner was worth the wait.
#EUCO (late) brunch finally started, the main course is tasty: #UKinEU deal.
And Tusk’s efforts must have worked, because we are hearing that the text has had all square brackets are removed, which means Tusk thinks it can be agreed.
Meanwhile, Czech PM Sobotka is tweeting that the Visegrad Four -Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary – have been “very helpful” in reaching a compromise.
The Maltese Prime Minister has told Sky News’ Political Editor that a new draft is due in the next few minutes and that it is a good compromise text.
Malta's Prime minister @JosephMuscat_JM tells me that a draft deal will be tabled in the next few minutes that is "the best possible text"
EU officials have drafted proposals to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron’s reform demands that could be “grounds for a deal” at a Brussels summit, Malta’s prime minister said Friday. Joseph Muscat said the 28 European Union leaders are set to consider the proposals shortly on the second day of the marathon meeting where Cameron has faced resistance to his demands.
“There is a draft that will be tabled in a few minutes’ time. The main points of the draft are a compromise so everyone has to have given a little something,” Muscat told reporters at the summit.”But I think it is definitely the grounds for a deal hopefully,” he added.
Update 19.47: Still no deal, but we are getting close now, apparently.
All EU countries — not just Britain — will have the option to pay migrants from other EU countries child benefits based on the standard of living in the country where the children live, under a deal being drawn up at a summit on Friday, two top EU diplomats said. The indexation of child benefits will be immediate for newcomers but will be phased in for EU migrants already settled, the diplomat said.
Cameron can expect Ireland’s support.
Meanwhile Sky News’ Jon Craig is reporting that Cameron will hold a Cabinet meeting tomorrow morning, when he will lift the gag on Ministers that want to Leave.
I'm hearing 8.30am on Saturday in Downing Street is David Cameron's plan for post summit Cabinet meeting, when he'll lift his gag on Outers.
After much soul searching, Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, has apparently decided to join the Leave camp. If confirmed, it will be a big boost for the Brexit side – lending it intellectual gravitas and crediblity, and a loss for Cameron and Osborne, who were hoping that Gove would stick with them due to their close personal and professional relationship, despite his strong eurosceptic views.
Gove won’t necessarily give the Leave camp a boost in the polls, however, as he’s not massively popular in the public eye. Boris Johnson would be far better at attracting swing voters to the out-camp than Gove. Having said that, as a very thoughtful man, Gove, could certainly make an excellent case for Brexit in a debate. The question then how if, and how publicly, he plans to campaign.
It’s quite clear that the UK and France have an entirely different vision for the future of the EU, with Germany somewhere in the middle.
Brussels journalists are tweeting that the purported Greek veto of the deal in exchange for concessions on Schengen have been resolved. No surprise there. Like the President of Lithuanian aptly-said, “everyone will have their drama and then it will be resolved.” The outstanding issues on benefits curbs and Eurozone governance are genuinely difficult, but it was never likely that Greece would scupper the deal. Alexis tried to flex his muscles, and was no doubt made to step back into line.
The Brussels’ correspondent for the Irish Times tweets the story.
David Cameron has tweeted that he’s cancelled a planned cabinet meeting as talks will continue this evening, and could potentially run through to Sunday. If there is no deal at this Summit, an emergency EUCO has been called for early March to discuss the migrant crisis, so it could be pushed back till though, though there is little appetite among EU leaders to drag this out.
Negotiations are continuing into this evening. A Cabinet meeting won't be possible tonight. One will be held if and when a deal is done.
Assuming they get a deal tonight, UK Cabinet will meet tomorrow. First Saturday meeting since 3rd April 1982, day after Falklands invaded.
In other news, we think that Slovakian PM, Robert Fico, wins the prize for the best leaders rant (so far). No more all-nighters, he says. When Slovakia takes over the rotating presidency of the EU, the practice will be banned, he adds.
More importantly, Fico’s also called the EU’s refugee quotas “laughable,” a view that several (actually most) other EU leaders would support, whether in public or private.
Fico on emergency brake "we'll most probably meet somewhere in between [7 & 13y] & that in-work ban will not affect those already in the UK.
On this, we’ve also published a blog on how many people are likely to be affected by the migration rules in the UK-EU package. It’s worth a read.
13.44: Talks still going on: but will leaders eat breakfast, brunch, lunch or linner?
The meetings are still continuing in Brussels, where the working “English breakfast” on the UK deal has been pushed back several times: it’s bypassed “brunch,” “Spanish lunch,” “London linner” and now it’s looking like tea. Anyway, the point is that genuine concerns still remain.
European Council President Donald Tusk (who was apparently a football hooligan in Gdansk a lifetime ago as revealed by Bruno Waterfield of The Times today), is playing hardball, “eyeballing the EU leaders,” keeping them hostage, and not allowing them to eat (linner, lunch or tea), “until they agree that they can agree.” Of course, it’s not the first time Tusk has pulled this move: at the heights of the Greek debt-crisis last year, when Grexit looked almost unavoidable, Tusk famously told Merkel and Tsipras, “Sorry, there is no way you’re leaving this room,” forcing them hammer out an agreement to keep Greece in the euro.
So no food until there’s a draft agreed. The latest is that they will eat at 16.00.
James Mates, ITV’s Political Editor, has tweeted that Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is apparently threatening to veto the UK’s EU deal, unless Greece can get assurances that it’s Northern border won’t be closed. AFP soon reported the same, quoting a government source. Remember, Greece is close to being kicked out of Schengen – and what would a crunch European Council Summit be without a few threats and horse-trading, after all?
Tsipras is bitter about how accommodating the EU has been to the UK comparatively to his ‘renegotiation’ on the Greek economic situation last year.
It’s the first time the two main issues on the agenda at this Summit (the UK and the migration crisis) have been linked.
Lest we forget, the migrant crisis is also on the agenda this summit. On that front Austrian Chancellor, Werner Faymann, is treading the path forged by Viktor Orbán as the new bad boy of the EU. So what’s the deal? With the lack of any comprehensive ‘European solution,’ Austria has vowed to press ahead with a move to limit the number of migrants who can claim asylum in the country to 80 a day, despite the EU warning that it would be illegal.
EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker said, “National solutions are not to be recommended,” and we hear from the Brussels rumour-mill that certain members of Juncker’s Cabinet were frosty to the Austrian delegation yesterday, refusing to shake their hands. The EU’s Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos has also sent a letter of complaint to the Austrian Interior Minister, Johanna Mikl-Leitner.
AFP has seen a copy of the letter, in which Avramopoulos writes, “Such a policy would be plainly incompatible with Austria’s obligations under European and international law,” citing the European Convention on Human Rights, the Geneva Convention and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. He continues, “Austria has a legal obligation to accept any asylum application that is made on its territory or at its border…I would urge you to reconsider the unilateral measures which you are proposing.” Faymann responded defiantly, saying, “Legal opinions will be answered by lawyers. Politically, we will stick to it”. He’s been briefing the press that he’s not alone either, that there has been “a lot of understanding” from other EU leaders.
Child benefit reforms to apply EU wide?
He also expressed fears about Brits hampering Eurozone integration, but was more conciliatory than the French.
@LondonerVince @OpenEurope You can safely change the colour for Estonia to be dark green, Estonia firmly supports the agreement.
An update on where we stand on the other contentious issue in the UK’s reform package: reforming access to EU migrants’ benefits.
Reports suggest a key sticking point is around the length of time that the emergency brake on EU migrants’ access to in-work benefits can apply for.
Cameron is reported to have upped his demands so that it would apply for seven years with the potential for two renewals of three years each – a total of 13 years.
This was opposed by the ‘Visegrad 4’ group of EU member states – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic – who only wanted the brake to apply for an initial three years with two renewals of one year each.
Denmark is reported to have also requested its own emergency brake.
Another sticking point is around the payment of child benefit to children residing in other EU member states, which Cameron is insisting should apply to all claiming such benefit, not just new applicants.
Below, also from our Heat Map, a reminder on how this ‘basket’ of reforms is seen across the EU.
Hollande arrives at #EUCO (day 2): "There's still work to do. Proposals have been exchanged last night between both sides".
As we noted yesterday, this opposition is not surprising. The only thing that is surprising is that it comes so late in the game. Here’s what we said about the French position on the UK’s reform agenda in our EU Reform Heat Map (assessing where each EU MS stands on the renegotiation), which we published in November last year.
Where does France Stand on the UK’s EU Reform Agenda?
French President François Hollande and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron have repeatedly evoked the need for “differentiated integration” within the EU – with the Eurozone pushing ahead with closer integration, while safeguarding the rights of countries outside the single currency. However, France remains wary that David Cameron is ultimately looking for some sort of ‘veto via the back door’, or a special carve-out for the UK’s financial services sector – meaning that everything will depend on the details of the mechanism that will be put on the table. While the French government has voiced support for cutting EU red tape, it is far from obvious that it would back UK demands to go beyond what is already being done – especially when it comes to further services liberalisation. The backlash triggered by Macron’s plans to open up a number of regulated professions (notaries, lawyers, bailiffs, etc.) gives a good idea of the domestic resistance to this kind of reforms. Similarly, France’s support for TTIP – the EU-US free trade deal – is not unconditional. In addition, Paris is unlikely to be a cheerleader for the ‘red card’ for national parliaments and may also be reluctant to agree to UK proposals to restrict EU migrants’ access to benefits – especially if it sees the plansas undermining the principle of free movement.
France remains wary that David Cameron is ultimately looking for some sort of ‘veto via the back door’, or a special carve-out for the UK’s financial services sector – meaning that everything will depend on the details of the mechanism that will be put on the table.
Meanwhile, Belgium and Luxembourg are digging in their heels over ‘ever closer union,’ which we flagged up as an obstacle in our Heat Map.
Belgium may well be among the least helpful countries for David Cameron’s renegotiation. Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has voiced support for the ‘soft’ items on the UK’s EU reform agenda – deepening the single market, less EU red tape, and more free trade deals with third countries. However, he has also been categorical in rejecting the idea of a ‘red card’ for national parliaments and has said that EU free movement is “inviolable”. Years have gone by, but Belgium – a founding member of the EU – remains genuinely convinced that ‘ever closer union’ is essential and should be the ultimate goal of European integration. Therefore, it instinctively receives with scepticism any proposal that it sees as going in the opposite direction. That said,the silver lining for David Cameron is the presence in the Belgian coalition government of the moderate nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party of Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt – which is a fellow member of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group at the European Parliament and is more sympathetic to the UK’s EU reform demands.
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel does not particularly like the idea of having an EU with toomany different levels of integration. He is also sceptical of granting the UK any special treatment as a resultof the renegotiation. Therefore, Luxembourg is unlikely to be enthusiastic about UK demands for an opt-out from ‘ever closer union’ – as well as stronger safeguards for non-Eurozone countries.
Good morning. We’re back for the second day of the EU leaders summit with no deal yet on the UK’s renegotiation. Talks dragged late into the night with European Council President Donald Tusk saying after 2AM that there had been “some progress, but a lot still remains to be done.” Bilateral meetings continued through the night while the leaders will resume talks today at 1.30pm CET.
#Cameron arriving at #EUCO: "I was here til 5am this morning working through this, made some progress but still no deal"
We’ll keep you updated on comments from the EU leaders (we’ll live translate comments on Twitter) as well as interesting comment pieces from the European press, background reading and our snap analysis. Stay tuned.
[This is] an opportunity to move to a fundamentally different approach to our relationship with the EU — what some might call a sort of live and let live.
Reports also suggest that Cameron has upped his demands on the EU migrants welfare issue.
We’re signing off for now, but we’ll be back in the morning with analysis on the latest from Brussels. Good night!
At his press conference he reminded reporters that the EU is not a multi-currency union, and that in theory, under the treaties the other non-euro MS are obliged to join the euro, apart from the UK and Denmark.
#Schulz: We have to be careful that #UKinEU deal doesn't institutionalize the divide between €/non-€ states. Only UK & Denmark opt-outs.
The UK has been pushing hard to include, the “multi-currency” union phrase into the deal. Martin Schulz and the European Parliament won’t be involved in that part of the deal, but other EU leaders (ie heads of France and Belgium), do share his view.
Could the European Parliament reject parts of the deal?
The short answer is that the risk is not zero.
This discussion applies to the parts of the deal that require further EU legislation after the referendum – these are the proposals for an ‘emergency brake’ on migrants’ access to welfare and changes to child benefit rules. Under the draft deal tabled by Tusk, the ‘emergency brake’ would be set up by amending Regulation (EC) No 492/2011. Under the deal, the European Commission would table the proposed amendments after the referendum, provided that the UK votes to remain in the EU.
The Commission’s proposal would then be subject to ‘co-decision’, meaning that it would need to be adopted by a qualified majority in the Council of Ministers and by a majority in the European Parliament. As such, there is a theoretical risk that the Parliament could reject it.
There is a lot of politiking going on by Schulz: perhaps he feels that Cameron didn’t engage enough with him during his whirlwind EU ‘charm offensive.’ He needs to show the power that be that the EP will still have a say, even though its unlikely that MEPs will ultimately shoot down parts of the deal.
17.15: Background: What would Brexit mean?
Another relevant snippet is the highlights video from the Brexit session of our EU Wargames. Lord Lamont, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, ‘played’ the role of the UK seeking to strike a post-Brexit deal with the R-EU in a simulated exercise.
Both Matteo Renzi and Enda Kenny, PMs of Italy and Ireland, struck helpful notes on their doorsteps. Italy has shown a clear interest in discussing structural, fundamental reform of the EU and sees the UK as a key ally – especially considering that other Eurozone countries, for instance France, are unwilling to have this kind of conversation.
Of all the individual member states, Ireland has the most to lose from a Brexit. Open Europe research has found that Ireland could see a permanent loss to GDP of between 3.1% and 1.1% if there were a Brexit. There could also be further complications for Northern Ireland, for example around the creation of a customs border and uncertainty about the free movement of people. As a result, Ireland was keen for a post-Brexit deal to be sealed with the UK as quickly as possible and potentially for a special arrangement to take into account the special nature of the Anglo-Irish relationship. While other countries expressed a desire for “solidarity” with Ireland, how far this would go was unclear.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone following our blog, but European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker confirms that there’s still some way to go before a deal is finalised.
Werner Faymann the Austrian Chancellor didn’t engage much with the British question on his doorstep: he had an axe to grind on the migrant crisis. Austria recently introduced a cap on the number of refugees it would allow into the country (37,500 in 2016), so Faymann was batting back criticism from the European Commission for having done so.
Austria's Faymann: "Lawyers will have to respond" to the @EU_Commission objections to cap on refugees. "Politically I say we stick to this."
Meanwhile, irony has been lost on the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who made these remarks, which is saying something in light of recent Greece-Eurozone negotiations. But perhaps he’s feeling bitter as he sees the EU being far more accommodating of the UK’s demands than they ever were (and are) of Syriza’s demands.
French President François Holland has just arrived, key parts from his doorstep: he wants a deal, but is obviously still not keen for the UK to have a “veto” on Eurozone affairs.
And it’s not only France that is concerned about a “veto” for Britain, other founding members of the single currency are too.
Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, is speaking to the press. Some highlights from the bit of his doorstep remarks he made in French.
Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka appeared to strike a conciliatory tone during his doorstep declarations.
The Czech Republic is, along with Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, a member of the so-called ‘Visegrad 4′ group of countries. These countries are set to play a key role, notably when it comes to discussing changes to rules on EU migrants’ access to benefits.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived at the summit. Here’s what she had to say about UK-EU negotiations.
Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo has arrived. She is one of the key players at this EU summit. She didn’t give too much away during her doorstep remarks.
Leaders continue to arrive at the EU summit. Here is what Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country also holds the rotating EU Presidency, had to say (including on the UK’s system of in-work benefits).
Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipilä has also arrived in the meantime, but he walked into the building without saying a word to journalists.
Finnish PM Sipilä arrives at #EUCO but makes no doorstep declaration.
Italian MEP Gianni Pittella, leader of the centre-left S&D grouping in the European Parliament, told Italian state broadcaster RAI yesterday that “we can’t accept any kind of discrimination against workers in the EU”.
Our Raoul Ruparel explained on the Open Europe blog what role the European Parliament would play in the implementation of the UK-EU deal. Well worth a read, in case you missed it.
Incidentally, Pittella also said that “the UK is only benefiting from EU membership at the moment. One doesn’t understand why it wants to leave”.
The gist of David Cameron’s doorstep remarks also features on his Twitter account.
I'm in Brussels where I'm negotiating hard for Britain. I'm clear, I'm not prepared to take a deal that does not meet what Britain needs.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron has arrived. Very short doorstep statement from him too.
Cameron arrives at #EUCO: We've got some important work to do. If we can get a good deal, I'll take that deal.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz told Sky News that negotiations could drag on into the weekend, if needed.
An interesting tweet from Bruno Waterfield, Brussels correspondent for The Times.
Square brackets in the draft are a sign that an issue is particularly contentious, so their removal means progress.
See our update from 12.15pm explaining why this specific section of the UK-EU deal is important.
As promised, here are a few initial thoughts on the latest draft of the UK-EU deal. Overall, there are a few tweaks and a number of questions remain open for the political discussion today and tomorrow.
The wording on how exactly the ‘emergency brake’ on EU migrants’ access to in-work benefits would be triggered has become more vague. However, two points are worth making. First, one of two references to the ‘implementing act’ by which the Council of Ministers would authorise the use of the brake had already been removed in the previous version of the draft – meaning that the second reference has simply been taken out to ensure the consistency of the text. Second, we believe it is a bit of a stretch to claim that such a change leaves the door open to an involvement of the European Parliament when it comes to triggering the brake – not least because the Parliament is not mentioned in the relevant section.
The reference to EU countries – namely the UK, Ireland and Sweden – that decided not to make use of transitional controls on workers coming from Central and Eastern EU member states after the 2004 enlargement has not been scrapped. It has been moved to a different paragraph and made a bit more vague. The text now refers to “situations of inflow of workers from other member states of an exceptional magnitude over an extended period of time, including as a result of past policies following previous EU enlargements.” Furthermore, the relevant European Commission declaration accompanying the deal now explicitly notes that the UK “has not made full use of the transitional periods on free movement of workers” coming from new EU member states. Whether this means other countries will be able to also use the emergency brake is unclear – this will likely be part of the discussion at today’s meetings.
Finally, and importantly from the UK’s point of view, the latest draft says that EU member states, “acting in their capacity as members of the Council [of Ministers]” will do “all within their power” to ensure the “rapid adoption” of EU legislation needed to set up the ‘emergency brake’. Highlighting that member states will make a strong push to ensure the necessary legislation is passed through the European Parliament (see here for our blog on this issue).
France has recently been reported as putting up resistance particularly to the section of the proposed UK-EU deal concerning the relations between Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries. Generally speaking, that is hardly a surprise. We noted that it could be a major sticking point for Paris already in our ‘EU Reform heat-map’ which we published last November.
If anything, it is somewhat surprising that the issue has come under the spotlight so late in the renegotiation. Indeed, the common denominator of negotiations at the EU level is that everyone wants/has to look like a winner the day after a deal is wrapped up. This may help explain why French President François Hollande has insisted so much over the past couple of weeks that the UK and other euro ‘outs’ cannot get a veto on future Eurozone integration – something the UK has never really asked for.
If you want to get an idea of what Cameron’s talks with other EU leaders might be like, you should watch the highlights videos from our EU Wargames Reform scenario. Former Foreign Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, ‘played’ the UK and pitched the UK’s EU reform demands to key EU players. Here’s how they reacted.
Social benefits for EU migrants are also a contentious issue in Germany, though primarily in the context of unemployment benefit and child benefit. Germany’s child benefit is relatively generous (up to £39.73 per week), as compared to £20.55 for the eldest child with £13.55 for subsequent children in the UK. Moreover, Germany’s Bundessozialgerichts (the highest social court in the land) ruled in December 2015, that while unemployed EU migrants can indeed be excluded from unemployment benefits (Hartz IV), after 6 months they are entitled to basic social security benefit, which is just as high as Hartz IV unemployment benefit.
The key difference is that basic social security is financed by the municipalities, and does not come from the Federal coffers. The result of the judgment is that unemployed EU migrants have to ‘survive’ for six months in Germany, and then get full benefits. There has been huge uproar in Germany on 1) how this is to be financed, and 2) concerns about it being abused.
So on this issue, Cameron will have a sympathetic hearing from the Germans, although the context of the German debate is slightly different. The Central and Eastern EU countries are said to be concerned that any concessions given to Cameron in this field, such as the emergency brake, could also be triggered by German – Austria and Denmark have also hinted they might be so inclined. Interestingly, Polish Radio is reporting today that France is also interested in indexing child benefit. This is why looks like the deal is evolving as a UK-specific opt-out, rather than establishing EU-wide principles.
A leaked draft of the latest UK-EU deal suggests France and Germany are fighting UK demands on banking regulation and the status of non-Euro states in the EU, while other states don’t want the UK benefit curbs to apply more widely. In effect, the deal narrows the scope for EU-wide reform in favour of British exceptionalism.
While we wait for the doorsteps of the EU leaders in Brussels (we’ll follow and translate interest bits on Twitter), it’s worth highlighting German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plea for Britain to remain in the EU in the Bundestag yesterday. She told MPs that that Cameron’s reform demands are “justified,” and that they are the interest of the EU as a whole. She took special care to mention the two most contentious parts of the package: in-work welfare reforms for EU migrants and the question on non-Eurozone and Eurozone states.
On the first, Merkel said national welfare this was a field for “national parliaments to legislate,” and not Brussels. “It goes without saying that each member state must be able to protect its social system from abuses,” she said. In order to quell any fears from other EU member states, she claimed that the principles of free movement and non-discrimination – were sacred, and had not been undermined in the UK’s draft deal.
On the second, the Chancellor said that she agreed with Cameron that non-Eurozone countries need to have safeguards, but any deal with the UK would not get in the way of further Eurozone integration.
I am convinced it is in our national interest for Great Britain to remain an active member in a strong and successful European Union.
10.40: Leaked new draft: deal watered down?
Alex Barker of The Financial Times leaked a new draft of the proposed deal this morning. We’ll publish our initial thoughts on it shortly, but the impression is that Cameron will have some hard work ahead on the two most contentious issues: the relationship between the Eurozone and non-Eurozone states; and limiting access to benefits for EU migrants.
Welcome to Open Europe’s live blog covering the first day of the European Council Summit, where the UK will be hoping to conclude its renegotiated deal with the EU. There are two items on the agenda at this Summit: ‘the British question,’ and the migration crisis.
A planned trip by Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, to Brussels – where he was due to meet leaders of eleven EU countries in a “coalition of the willing” to discuss concrete measures to tackle the migrant crisis – has been cancelled in the wake of yesterday’s terror attacks in Ankara. So Turkey slips down the agenda, and all eyes on Prime Minister David Cameron then.
Following the #Ankara attack, my meeting with PM @Ahmet_Davutoglu has been cancelled. My thoughts are with the victims & their families.