Still no agreement on EU future
Weekend of talks produce no deal but support for remaining in the EU is growing
A WEEKEND of negotiations between UK PM David Cameron and the president of the European Council Donald Tusk has not reached a deal.
A further 24 hours of talks are currently underway to reach an agreement on issues such as withholding in-work benefits to migrants from the EU and better protection for non-Euro countries within the block.
The prime minister dismissed the proposal of an ‘emergency brake’ to allow the UK to remove benefits for EU migrants for four years, as “not good enough”.
The UK government is hoping to reach a deal ahead of a meeting of EU leaders on February 18-19.
The key points for discussion are:
Protection for non-euro countries
Competitiveness
An end to the obligation for closer union
Benefit restrictions
No official date for a referendum has been set, the only commitment being to hold one by the end of 2017, but Downing Street is believed to favour June 23 this year.
The leader of UKIP, Nigel Farage accused the prime minister of “fiddling around on the edges” and said none of the negotiations would make “any difference at all” on Britain’s position in Europe.
A poll for the Daily Mail at the weekend shows support for remaining in the EU is rising but an ‘in’ vote has only a narrow majority.
The poll, by ComRes, found 54% would vote to remain in the EU if the referendum was held now, while 36% would vote to leave and 10% were undecided - a smaller share than in previous polls.
Photo:Flickr/Foreign & Commonwealth Office
