Cameron says some progress but ‘no deal’ in E.U. talks lasting through the night
Cameron cites progress but ‘no deal’ yet in protracted E.U. talks
(about 3 hours later)
BRUSSELS — British Prime Minister David Cameron engaged in marathon talks Friday with his fellow European Union leaders on a deal that could set the tone for what is expected to be a bruising campaign to decide whether the United Kingdom leaves the 28-member bloc.
BRUSSELS — The deal was supposed to be sealed Friday over an English breakfast, with British Prime Minister David Cameron celebrating his agreement to help keep the United Kingdom in the European Union as he and fellow E.U. leaders gathered around a table piled high with bacon and toast.
“There’s still no deal,” Cameron told reporters in Brussels on Friday morning after an all-night session during which Cameron sought concessions that would help him make the case back home for his country’s continued membership.
But Cameron’s intention to bend Europe to his will has proved more complicated than expected.
“I was here until five o’clock this morning working through this,” he said. “We’ve made some progress.”
As negotiations on a package of British reform proposals continued overnight Thursday, plans for breakfast were pushed back to an English brunch. Then lunch. Then high tea. Late Friday, the presumably famished leaders were preparing to sit down for dinner — and possibly another long night of talks.
“I’ll only do a deal if we get what Britain needs,” the prime minister said. “So we’re going to get back in there, we’re going to do some more work and we’re going to do whatever we can,” he said before returning to the negotiating table.
The leaders’ shifting meal plans could influence whether Britain ultimately stays in the E.U. Cameron is expected to use the fraught talks to demonstrate that he fought to the bitter end with European counterparts to get the best possible deal for Britain and avoid a British exit, dubbed “Brexit,” from the union.
The negotiations over Britain’s reform proposals proved trickier than expected, with European Council President Donald Tusk announcing just before 3 a.m. that there was “a lot still to be done.”
“I’ll only do a deal if we get what Britain needs,” the prime minister told reporters in Brussels on Friday morning after an all-night negotiating session. “So we’re going to get back in there, we’re going to do some more work, and we’re going to do whatever we can.”
British and E.U. officials said substantial gaps needed to be bridged before the two sides could reach agreement. Plans to seal the deal over an English breakfast on Friday morning were pushed back to brunch, which then became “an English lunch.” By 2 p.m., the 28 leaders had still not sat down together to eat, and some officials suggested the talks could drag into the weekend.
But already on Friday, British euroskeptics were lining up to proclaim the stalemated talks as Exhibit A in their portrayal of the E.U. as a hopelessly gridlocked and bureaucratic institution that is beyond hope for serious reform.
The delay stemmed from an array of objections to British proposals that reflected European unease with the U.K.’s attempts to loosen the bonds of continental integration. The French have pushed back against attempts to weaken financial regulations. Eastern Europeans have called foul on an effort to limit benefits paid to immigrants from within the E.U.
European officials have uniformly said they want to keep Britain in the club. But they have also bridled at what many regard as a British attempt to blackmail the union into giving the U.K. a special deal.
British opponents of E.U. membership pounced on the apparently stalled negotiations Friday, describing the body as paralyzed by competing interests and incapable of serious reform. Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-E.U. U.K. Independence Party, wrote on Twitter that Cameron had “gone from talking about fundamental change to holding out a begging bowl for minor concessions.”
Indeed, even as the leaders haggled, analysts said the prime minister would need to settle for an agreement that falls well short of his original intention to fundamentally renegotiate Britain’s relationship with the E.U.
“What he will get is not revolutionary,” said Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the Brussels-based European Policy Center. “This won’t change Europe.”
A British exit, however, very much would.
[Europe wants Britain to stay in the E.U., but not at any cost]
[Europe wants Britain to stay in the E.U., but not at any cost]
The country has long been an ambivalent E.U. member, but it remains one of the bloc’s cornerstones. If the country votes to leave in a referendum expected in June, it could trigger a broader European unraveling at a time when continental unity is being strained by a refugee crisis, renewed Russian aggression, terrorist attacks and rising nationalism.
British opponents of E.U. membership pounced on the apparently stalled negotiations Friday, describing the body as paralyzed and inept. Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-E.U. U.K. Independence Party, wrote on Twitter that Cameron has “gone from talking about fundamental change to holding out a begging bowl for minor concessions.”
If Britain voted to leave, Emmanouilidis said, it would probably embolden “anti-E.U. voices in other member states saying there is a way out.”
Indeed, the changes under discussion Friday would not fundamentally alter the E.U. But the stakes are high, nonetheless: Cameron has long said he believes that Britain should stay in the E.U. only if the union can be reformed to better serve British interests. Cameron will have to take whatever he gets in Brussels, and make the case to British voters that they should stick with the union in a referendum widely expected this June.
European leaders appeared mindful of that risk, suggesting they still intend to give Cameron enough of what he wants to enable him to declare victory. Estonia’s prime minister, Taavi Roivas, said Friday morning that he still believed it was possible to reach a deal by day’s end if countries focused on the greater good.
Before the talks kicked off on Thursday, officials had acknowledged there would be an element of theater involved in this week’s summit. But the protracted talks Friday appeared to go well beyond theatrics, as officials on both sides reported unexpectedly wide gaps between British and European positions.
“We all, of course, pursue our national interests but we should also bear in mind that should Britain leave we all get nothing,” Rovias said as he arrived for the Friday talks.
European officials have uniformly said they want to keep Britain in the club. But they have also bridled at what many regard as a British attempt to blackmail the union into giving the U.K. a special deal.
But others suggested they would continue to block British efforts to scale back a European integration effort that has been decades in the making.
Cameron has proposed four changes: an exemption from Europe’s vow to pursue “ever-closer union”; protections for members that do not use the euro; a national veto over E.U. legislation; and, most controversially, permission to limit benefits paid to immigrants from within the E.U.
European leaders have taken a tough line throughout the months of negotiation, denying Cameron the sort of far-reaching change he sought. The prime minister has long said he favored Britain’s continued E.U. membership only if he could win substantial reforms.
All four measures would loosen the bonds of continental integration, and each has proved a difficult sell for the unanimous agreement that the E.U. requires. The French have pushed back against attempts to weaken financial regulations. Eastern Europeans have called foul on benefit restrictions. The Germans have fretted that abandoning ever-closer union could scupper the European project.
Eastern European leaders were particularly unbending as the prime minister pushed for welfare caps that could help to reduce net migration to Britain.
Cameron is expected to win the right to apply “an emergency brake” to benefits for new arrivals from within the E.U.
But the details remained hotly contested. It was unclear how effective the measure will be in limiting immigration to Britain, much of which comes from the poorer countries in Europe’s east.
Cameron has also sought protections for members of the E.U. that don’t use the euro, an exemption from the bloc’s pledge of “ever-closer union” and a national veto over E.U. legislation.
[Has Prince William entered Britain’s debate over leaving Europe?]
[Has Prince William entered Britain’s debate over leaving Europe?]
Draft versions of the deal, circulated in recent days, have been ridiculed by Cameron’s critics, “out” campaigners and Britain’s influential tabloids. All have excoriated the prime minister for not achieving more.
Other variables have come into play, as well. Before signing off on a deal, Greek negotiators reportedly want a promise that the E.U. will not shut the country’s northern border to refugees. Such a move, which several E.U. members have advocated, could effectively trap thousands of asylum seekers in Greece and prevent them from reaching the countries in northern Europe where they hope to settle.
Tim Montgomerie, a blogger and activist, used his Times of London column Thursday to announce he was quitting the Conservative Party because of his disillusion with Cameron.
Despite the obstacles, some E.U. leaders have been outspoken in arguing that all E.U. members will lose out if Britain ends up bolting from a union that has been decades in the making.
“This charade over the EU is the final straw,” he wrote.
Estonia’s prime minister, Taavi Roivas, said Friday morning that he still believed it was possible to reach a deal by day’s end if countries focused on the greater good.
More defections could soon follow. Other prominent members of Cameron’s party have flirted with defying the prime minister and supporting a British exit — popularly known as “Brexit.” London Mayor Boris Johnson has been particularly coy, but he could become the effective leader of the “out” campaign if he chooses to back a British departure.
“We all, of course, pursue our national interests. But we should also bear in mind that should Britain leave, we all get nothing,” Roivas said as he arrived for the Friday talks.
Polls suggest that the contest could go either way, although most show “in” at least slightly ahead. Assuming Cameron can strike a deal in Brussels, he is expected to return to London on Friday to officially launch the campaign and to set a date for the vote — widely tipped as June 23.
In Britain on Friday, the negotiations were covered round-the-clock by news organizations hungry for the latest indications of which way the talks were headed.
Britain’s membership was not the only hot-button item on the agenda Thursday: Over a marathon five-hour dinner, Europe’s top officials engaged in occasionally heated discussion of how to handle the flood of refugees landing on Greek and Italian shores.
Tony Travers, a political analyst at the London School of Economics, said it would be no surprise to British voters that the E.U. was having trouble reaching a deal.
A new Austrian plan to begin sharply limiting the number of asylum seekers who can enter the country each day sparked particularly intense debate, officials said. Earlier in the day, the European Commission had charged that the practice violated European law. But the country's chancellor, Werner Faymann, said the limits would still be implemented as planned, beginning on Friday.
“The way that Europe has made its decisions has always been seen in Britain as a bit on the dysfunctional side,” Travers said.
With the flows into Europe continuing unabated, the E.U.’s leaders made plans to meet again in early March along with top Turkish officials. The E.U. last year struck a deal for Turkey to crack down on people-smuggling in exchange for billions of euros in aid.
The breathless reports of down-to-the-wire talks, Travers said, could ultimately help Cameron make his case that he had secured the best deal possible.
Merkel said early Friday that Austria’s move had made it “more urgent” for Europe to assess whether the deal with Turkey is working.
“The negotiations have to be difficult to create the sense of having gained something big,” he said.
Karla Adam and Daniela Deane in London contributed to this report.
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Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Karla Adam and Daniela Deane in London contributed to this report.
