Poland hopes for agreement with United Kingdom on benefits for European Union migrants

The PM set out four specific demands in November: protection of the single market for non-EU countries, cuts to red tape, exemption for the United Kingdom from the bloc’s constitutional drive to “ever-closer union”, and restriction to in-work migrant benefits such as tax credits.

DAVID Cameron has suffered a major setback in his drive to get a deal on curbing migrant benefits after his Polish counterpart made clear her government did not “see eye-to-eye” with him on the issue.

Cameron’s first stop was the office of the new Romanian prime minister, Dacian Ciolos, before a scheduled visit to the Colectiv nightclub to pay his respects to 60 people who died following a fire there on October 30.

But Mr Duncan Smith said that Mr Tusk’s letter was “carefully drafted to say that the door is still open” to discussions on Britain’s proposal and he was “upbeat” that Mr Cameron will be successful.

Poland and other eastern European countries, whose citizens would be hit harder than citizens from wealthier member states, believe the ban breaks the EU’s laws on discrimination. A net migration rate in Britain of “well over 300,000 a year…is not sustainable”, he said.

Cameron came to Poland to discuss his plans for having a reform of the European Union, fight against extremists and also issues concerning some 2 million Poles living in Britain. Sydlo added that Cameron’s welfare proposals undermined the principle of free movement.

Mr Cameron warned in a recent interview with the Spectator magazine that pressures on public opinion caused by the refugee and eurozone crisis could push the country towards the exit door of the bloc.

“There are issues on which there is not a full agreement between us…”

Earlier, EU President Donald Tusk said that he expected a deal at a summit in February to keep Britain in the bloc, despite a lack of consensus over the key demand on migrant benefits.

Former Conservative Party treasurer Michael Spencer, chief executive officer at broking firm Icap, said Britain could thrive outside the EU. “I think the right outcome is to be part of a reformed EU”. But this is rather less handy, and it shows up just quite how hard it is going to be to proclaim even hard-won changes as a comprehensive overhaul of Britain’s membership of the EU. But if you like, this renegotiation, this question has become bigger and more important with the security crisis that we face in Europe. Cameron said in Bucharest that he recognized welfare reforms were one of the most hard areas in the renegotiation. “It’s going to take time, but I feel there is the good will to reach an agreement”.