British PM Sets Out Key Demands To Avoid ‘Brexit — David Cameron EU

Two days ago Cameron published a letter he sent to Tusk containing four key demands he wants met before holding a referendum on the U.K.’s membership in the bloc before the end of 2017.

The Prime Minister’s plan to stop in-work benefits and access to social housing until migrants have lived in Britain for four years also faced opposition.

He acknowledged that getting the other 27 nations to agree to Britain’s goals would be a major challenge – but not “Mission: Impossible”.

The European Commission called a few of the issues raised by Cameron “highly problematic”.

“We are a proud, independent nation”.

And in yet more embarrassment for Mr Cameron, Britons appear to have little confidence in the prime minister’s approach to renegotiations of a European Union deal.

Ending Britain’s obligation to work towards an “ever closer union”.

It took prompting for the PM to acknowledge the end of Britain in Europe would also mean the end of Scotland in Britain, too. Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden, the Shadow Minister for Europe, told the Commons: “Labour Members are clear about the fact that Britain is a more powerful, prosperous and secure country as a result of its membership of the European Union… we do not stand for the nationalism that says that we would be better off out, or for a Brexit [British exit] that would see Britain weaker in power and influence, and diminished in the eyes of the world”.

And in Britain, immigration is the number one issue politicians encounter on the doorsteps, and anger over it is the most powerful source of hostility to the EU.

“And that in doing so, we can make Britain and the whole of Europe safer and more prosperous for generations to come”, Cameron added.

That is likely to be a tough sell with a few European Union leaders, who see free movement of labour, as well as of goods, as a cornerstone of the bloc.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said that a few of Cameron’s demands were “highly problematic as they touch upon the fundamental freedoms of the internal market”, the Reuters news agency reported.

We won’t go into detail now but it’s about not letting countries who use the euro to gang up on us, a bit about how far businesses should be controlled by regulation and a lot about what the European Union is actually for and how much power it should have.

After publication, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was “reasonably confident” an agreement could be reached that would keep Britain within the EU.

“If one has the spirit that we can solve these problems then I’m convinced it can be done”, she said.

“Their requests are tough and this is why this matter was so interesting for me, but I have to say that it would be really hard to find an agreement and for sure there is no guarantee that we can do this by December”, said Mr Tusk.

Cameron said there would be “no second referendum” once Britain has voted.

Cameron said if countries outside the single currency were “pushed aside and overruled, then it would no longer be a club for us”.

“Voters don’t simply want in-work benefits curbed for migrants, they want fewer migrants – and that’s the awkward reality for David Cameron”, said Matthew Goodwin, a politics professor at the University of Kent.