EU Publishes Draft Deal to Keep Britain in Bloc as Referendum Looms
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – David Cameron’s fight to keep Britain in the EU began in earnest on Tuesday as the outline of the reform deal he will put to the British public in a referendum was published.
Donald Tusk, European Council president, set the clock ticking for the decisive “Brexit” vote when he circulated to all 28 EU capitals the “new settlement” being offered to Mr Cameron.
The paper — covering migration, protections for the City of London, sovereignty and competitiveness — forms the basis for the British deal Mr Tusk hopes to seal at a Brussels summit on February 18-19.
France is insisting that any mechanism to protect the City of London from financial regulations intended to govern the eurozone should not amount to a British veto.
Details on that question — including what legislation the safeguards apply to, who can invoke the brake-clause, and what happens if consensus is impossible — largely remain open and will be one of the most sensitive issues in the negotiation.
One crucial British demand is left open to negotiation: whether the substance of the UK package is incorporated into primary law when the EU treaties are next changed.
Under the deal on migrant benefits, the European Commission pledges to propose an emergency brake that “can and will be used” to “act as a solution to the UK’s concerns about the exceptional inflow of workers from elsewhere in the EU that it has seen over the last 10 years”.
To restrict a new EU migrant’s in-work benefits for up to four years, Britain must meet an unspecified criteria showing its public services or welfare are under strain and secure approval from qualified majority of EU member states.
In a concession to Mr Cameron, the commission makes clear that presently “the UK would be justified in triggering the mechanism in the full expectation of obtaining approval.”
The Commission also makes clear it will propose revised rules to clampdown on “marriages of convenience” that give non-EU migrants a backdoor route to residence in the UK.
A second emergency brake covers economic governance and gives legal force to principles to “facilitate the coexistence” of euro and non-euro countries within the single market.
If one of these principles is put in question by planned legislation, a country or group of countries may be able to escalate a political discussion to EU leaders.
While the agreement will increase the incentive to find consensus on such sensitive issues, the safeguard clause crucially does not provide a veto for the UK, The Financial Times reported.
Discussions cannot be indefinitely stalled by EU leaders and legislation would still decided by qualified majority of EU member states.
On sovereignty, the key provision makes clear that the UK’s existing opt-outs mean it “is not committed to further political integration into the EU”. This attempts to address Mr Cameron’s call for Britain to be excluded from the treaty mantra of “ever closer union”.
Finally, on competitiveness, the draft deal establishes an annual audit of EU regulation to reduce red tape and minimise unnecessary EU level interventions.
