Cameron tells of ‘pathway’ to deal on European Union reforms

European Union president Donald Tusk warned that some of the reform demands British Prime Minister David Cameron is due to make at a summit Thursday are likely to be unacceptable to other leaders, according to European Union business.

It wobbled off and hung at an angle as the Prime Minister reported “a lot of goodwill” and claimed that progress was being made in preparation for the European Council summit in February where he hopes to sign off his renegotiation plan.

Mr Cameron said he believed questions about how to make the reforms legally enforceable could also be overcome.

Cameron presented his four-year proposal, but made clear that he was open to other ways to better control immigration to Britain.

An EU aide said Tusk wanted to give everyone a chance to speak their mind on Thursday night with a view to seeking a deal at the next summit in mid-February.

“We have got to address this worry of the British people that they will be taken against their will into a political project”.

Francois Hollande, the French president, said that some member states had suggested that the benefit curbs should be limited to two years. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has seemingly done the impossible – he has managed to get “a pathway to a deal” in renegotiating the UK’s terms with the European Union. Prime Minister Cameron set out in detail his position, in particular regarding benefits and free movement. Not compromises, solutions. I am confident we can find solutions.

Earlier, she and the leaders of three other ex-communist central European countries said in a joint statement they would not accept any change in EU laws that would mean discrimination against their citizens or limit their freedom of movement.

Mr Cameron pointed out that the EU Referendum Bill had received royal assent and the UK’s in-out vote would definitely take place by the end of 2017.

“The talks were, to use diplomatic language, frank”, Mr Hollande said after the meeting, He said Mr Cameron’s proposed four-year benefit ban “seemed to many to be very long and hard to reconcile with the treaties”.

“There is enormous support in the room for finding changes to keep Britain in the European Union”.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was optimistic a deal could be reached given leaders were prepared to compromise but warned that “work on substance needs to be done”.

“Why can’t he just say, “Well, actually, this argument really belongs within the Conservative Party”, and perhaps the Conservative Party should sort out what their problem is first”. “I’ll be battling hard for Britain right through the night and I think we’ll be getting a good deal”.

He said they also agreed to protect the Schengen area, the cherished European passport-free zone that symbolises that ideal of free movement but has been threatened by the huge movements of people across the continent.

All 27 other European Union nations have to agree to any United Kingdom change so even if Mr. Cameron can convince his closest allies, such as the Dutch and Danish, it will count for nothing if he cannot overcome other objections.

But officials said some had voiced concerns at the national sovereignty issues raised by the new border force, such as Poland and Greece, the country that has seen by far the biggest number of migrant arrivals.