European Council President Donald Tusk presented on Tuesday proposals for keeping Britain in the European Union to a mixed response, underlining the challenges Prime Minister David Cameron faces to win over his people and other EU leaders.
The proposals, which addressed all four areas where Cameron has demanded reform, did little to ease doubts among his more Eurosceptic lawmakers and even some of the prime minister’s closest allies wondered out loud if the package -- which must still be agreed by other EU states -- would be enough.
Tusk’s text said Britain could immediately suspend welfare payments to EU migrants for four years if Britons voted to stay in the bloc and could, alongside other countries, have new powers to block legislation. Britain could also opt out of further political integration in the 28-member bloc.
But with Eurosceptics describing the talks as “trivial” and some of Cameron’s allies saying the proposals would probably need more work, a summit of EU leaders on February 18-19 was gearing up to be a difficult meeting.
‘Not enough’
In the text, Tusk’s proposal would have a legally binding provision allowing a group of 55% or more member states to either stop EU legislation or demand changes to address concerns Britain has handed too much power to Brussels.
It also included a clause saying Britain could suspend some payments to migrants from the bloc for four years, starting immediately after the referendum, after meeting the conditions to trigger a so-called ‘emergency brake’.
Both should go some way to appeasing critics of EU membership in Cameron’s party, although even an ally, London Mayor Boris Johnson, said he doubted the deal would be enough.
As well as curbing migration and returning powers to Britain, Cameron also wants his country excluded from the EU goal of “ever closer union” and says it should be protected against moves by the 19 countries that share the euro currency to impose rules by majority vote on London.
There is much still to decide, including how long the so-called “emergency brake”, or suspension, on welfare payments to migrants will be in force and how to enforce protection for London’s financial industry.
The stakes are high. The referendum will not only determine Britain’s future role in world trade and affairs, but also shape the European Union, which has struggled to maintain unity over migration and financial crises, by ripping away its second-largest economy and one of its two main military powers.
