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EU summit: 'Crunch time' for Cameron's reform hopes EU referendum: Juncker 'confident' of UK summit deal
(about 1 hour later)
David Cameron's bid to win backing for his EU reforms has reached "crunch time", a UK government official says. Jean-Claude Juncker has said he is "quite confident" European leaders can reach a deal with Britain over its future membership of the EU.
The prime minister heads for a Brussels summit later hoping to agree a deal on changes that will pave the way for the UK's in/out referendum. The European Commission President was speaking as David Cameron left Downing Street to head to a two day summit in Brussels.
It follows months of negotiations between officials, with the PM visiting 20 member states to make his case. Mr Cameron aims to return with a reform deal he can put to the British people in a referendum in June.
EU Council President Donald Tusk told the BBC leaders had "no choice" but to agree a deal at the two-day summit. But he faces resistance to some of his key demands from other EU leaders.
Campaigners for a UK exit from the EU have dismissed the draft reforms as trivial, saying the only way to achieve change is to vote to leave. Leaked copies of a final draft of Britain's proposals, seen by the Guardian, suggest Mr Cameron still has to convince fellow EU leaders to agree to treaty changes to cement his reforms.
The documents also suggest France is still resisting attempts to secure protection for the City of London by giving non-eurozone nations more power power to stall financial regulation.
Mr Cameron's plan to cut the amount of child benefit EU migrants can send back to to their home countries would apply across the EU according to the leaked drafts - something that would be resisted by Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The key parts of UK deal:The key parts of UK deal:
In his official invitation to the gathering, Mr Tusk said there was "no guarantee" a deal would be reached, with "difficult" differences remaining on key issues. Senior EU officials have been talking up the chances of a deal, while admitting there are still difficulties that need to be ironed out.
He said the negotiations were at a "very advanced" stage and failure now "would be a defeat both for the UK and the European Union, but a geopolitical victory for those who seek to divide us". "I'm quite confident that we will have a deal during this European Council," Mr Juncker told reporters.
Following a phone call between Mr Cameron and Mr Tusk late on Wednesday, a Downing Street spokesman said they had "agreed that good progress had been made... and that the draft texts presented a good basis for agreement at tomorrow's European Council, subject to the satisfactory resolution of outstanding issues". "We have to sort out a certain number of questions... and I'm convinced that Britain will be a constructive and active member of the European Union."
The UK's renegotiation is the first item on the agenda in Brussels, with the leaders also due to discuss the migration crisis.
The leaders would return to the UK issue on Friday morning, Mr Tusk said, as they searched for a "legally binding and irreversible agreement".
Their talks will be based on the draft proposals he published earlier this month, taking into account "technical and legal clarifications" since added by negotiating teams.
The proposals include restrictions on migrants' in-work benefits, which have been resisted by a number of Central European countries, and protections for countries outside the eurozone which France is said to have opposed.
However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said most of Mr Cameron's demands are "justified and necessary".
Analysis: By Laura Kuenssberg, BBC political editorAnalysis: By Laura Kuenssberg, BBC political editor
How on earth did the man who once accused the Conservatives of being out of touch for "banging on about Europe", get himself into a position where he has already been "banging on about Europe" for months and months, and will spend the next four months still doing precisely that?How on earth did the man who once accused the Conservatives of being out of touch for "banging on about Europe", get himself into a position where he has already been "banging on about Europe" for months and months, and will spend the next four months still doing precisely that?
Most simply, as the years have passed, his party has changed.Most simply, as the years have passed, his party has changed.
As the EU expanded, and generations of MPs came and went, a soft scepticism towards the European project, neither full-throated support, nor hardcore opposition, became more common, and sympathy for the idea of a referendum spread from the margins.As the EU expanded, and generations of MPs came and went, a soft scepticism towards the European project, neither full-throated support, nor hardcore opposition, became more common, and sympathy for the idea of a referendum spread from the margins.
The eurozone financial crisis, and the EU's stumbling approach to sorting it out, gave a fresh energy to eurosceptic MPs who wanted to campaign to leave.The eurozone financial crisis, and the EU's stumbling approach to sorting it out, gave a fresh energy to eurosceptic MPs who wanted to campaign to leave.
In part that apathy, if not downright dislike, towards the EU spread because of the enormous rise in the numbers of people from around the Union who came to live and work in the UK.In part that apathy, if not downright dislike, towards the EU spread because of the enormous rise in the numbers of people from around the Union who came to live and work in the UK.
Numbers that took the political establishment completely by surprise began to arrive from the moment new countries like Poland joined the EU in 2004.Numbers that took the political establishment completely by surprise began to arrive from the moment new countries like Poland joined the EU in 2004.
It was that steep rise in EU immigration that gave David Cameron his most pressing political reason for - in the end - promising a referendum.It was that steep rise in EU immigration that gave David Cameron his most pressing political reason for - in the end - promising a referendum.
Mr Cameron is seeking key changes on European integration, business competiveness, benefits restrictions and the operation of the eurozone.
Speaking on the eve of the summit, a UK government official told BBC deputy political editor James Landale that the eurozone and welfare reform aspects were yet to be resolved, as was the question of whether the reforms would be written into the EU's binding treaties.
On welfare, the official expected the focus to be on the "emergency brake" that would restrict EU migrants' welfare entitlement for four years, and a bid to reduce child benefit claims for children living overseas.
"These are live negotiations," the official added.
"We are at a sensitive point. The PM will be going to the Council battling hard on all of these issues that matter so much to the British people."
EU Out campaigners say the draft reforms will make no difference to the number of migrants coming to Britain and will not allow the UK to block unwanted EU laws.EU Out campaigners say the draft reforms will make no difference to the number of migrants coming to Britain and will not allow the UK to block unwanted EU laws.
UKIP's migration spokesman Steven Woolfe will lead a demonstration outside the meeting in protest at Mr Cameron's "pitiful deal for Britain".
He will say: "The prime minister has asked for little and has been granted even less.
"He has taken his begging bowl to Brussels and, in an embarrassment for Britain, has produced a renegotiation package that fails to bring back control of our borders, reduce the daily cost of our membership or secure the sovereignty of our great nation."
Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan dismissed the proposed deal and warned that any changes could be unpicked by the European Parliament in future.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I don't know of any MEPs or Eurocrats in private who think that this is a fundamental change. All of the sound and fury, all of the negotiations, have come down to amending one directive - which we could have done at any time without needing any renegotiation.
"Privately, the Eurocrats were whooping and high-fiving and turning cartwheels because so little has been asked for."
Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock, who was a European commissioner, said Mr Cameron had "probably done as well as could be expected" and warned of "seismic" consequences if the UK left the EU.
A guide to what the European Union is
What happens next?What happens next?
Thursday:Thursday:
15:00 GMT (16:00 local): EU leaders begin arriving for their regular summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels15:00 GMT (16:00 local): EU leaders begin arriving for their regular summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels
16:45: First working session on the UK proposed reforms16:45: First working session on the UK proposed reforms
19:00: Working dinner on the migration crisis19:00: Working dinner on the migration crisis
Talks on the UK deal could resume after dinner and continue late into the night, if there is still no dealTalks on the UK deal could resume after dinner and continue late into the night, if there is still no deal
Friday:Friday:
08:00: Discussions will continue over an "English Breakfast" if no agreement on the UK demands has been reached on Thursday08:00: Discussions will continue over an "English Breakfast" if no agreement on the UK demands has been reached on Thursday
If David Cameron gets a deal, he will return to the UK as quickly as possible to hold an emergency cabinet meeting to reach an agreed position on remaining in the EU. At this point, ministers who want Britain out of the EU will be allowed to speak out.If David Cameron gets a deal, he will return to the UK as quickly as possible to hold an emergency cabinet meeting to reach an agreed position on remaining in the EU. At this point, ministers who want Britain out of the EU will be allowed to speak out.
Mr Cameron may then announce the date of the UK's referendum, although he does not have to do soMr Cameron may then announce the date of the UK's referendum, although he does not have to do so
17 March:17 March:
The next scheduled EU summit - at which Mr Cameron could have another chance to get a deal. There has also been talk of a special summit at the end of FebruaryThe next scheduled EU summit - at which Mr Cameron could have another chance to get a deal. There has also been talk of a special summit at the end of February
Thursday 23 June:Thursday 23 June:
Still seen as the most likely date of a UK referendum if Mr Cameron gets a deal in February or March, but he has until the end of 2017 to hold oneStill seen as the most likely date of a UK referendum if Mr Cameron gets a deal in February or March, but he has until the end of 2017 to hold one
UK and the EU: Better off out or in?UK and the EU: Better off out or in?
If a deal is reached, Mr Cameron is expected to brief his cabinet on Friday, which will free ministers to campaign for either side in the referendum. Thursday 23 June is seen as the most likely date for the poll.
The PM says his goal is to campaign to stay in a reformed European Union.
Alongside his EU reform talks, Mr Cameron is working on a separate plan to boost UK sovereignty aimed at getting sceptical Tories, including Boris Johnson, to get behind his reform deal.
Details of this project have yet to be revealed.
On the migration crisis, which will be discussed at a working dinner on Thursday evening, Mr Cameron is expected to say the government is preparing to send a second UK Border Force cutter vessel to the Mediterranean to help Turkey tackle the flow of refugees attempting to cross the water to Greece.
Read more:Read more: