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Barroso and Brown to hold talks UK 'likely to win' treaty demands
(about 21 hours later)
Gordon Brown and the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso will meet on Thursday ahead of crucial talks on the new EU treaty. There is "every reason to believe" the UK will achieve the concessions it has demanded in the new EU treaty, the European Commission's president says.
After the Downing Street meeting, which is expected to cover the UK's opt-outs, the two will answer questions. Opt-outs over areas including foreign policy and tax had been "hard fought for", Jose Manuel Barroso added after meeting Gordon Brown in Downing Street.
It is expected the leaders will be grilled on the treaty's similarity to the abandoned constitution. And he said the UK was an "absolutely indispensable" part of the EU.
On Tuesday a committee of MPs described the treaty and the old constitution as "substantially equivalent". Calls for a referendum on the treaty have been consistently rejected by the British prime minister.
During prime minister's questions on Wednesday Mr Brown again rejected Conservative demands for a referendum on the treaty. Mr Brown has threatened to veto the treaty if he did not win the concessions - or "red lines" - he has sought.
The Tories say that, because the government gave an undertaking to let voters decide whether to accept the EU Constitution, it is now duty bound to do the same for the new treaty. "I think that is well known to people across Britain," Mr Brown told a news conference.
Conservative leader David Cameron said Mr Brown's own MPs on the Labour-dominated European scrutiny committee had described as "misleading" any attempt to portray the treaty and the constitution as different. I have every reason to believe that the opt-outs that were so hard fought for by Britain are going to be kept in the text. Now we need to have this matter settled and move on Jose Manuel Barroso
"When Labour MPs say this, why should anyone believe him," he asked. "I'm a cautious man and I will wait until we see the discussion which takes place in the council next week before I make a judgement on this," he said.
Red lines This was a reference to an informal summit in Lisbon where leaders will gather to iron out any remaining issues on the treaty.
Mr Brown said the government had had won vital concessions - or "red lines" - to protect the British national interest. He said it was these that set the treaty apart from the constitution. Mr Barroso said at a press conference he was "well aware of the specific concerns of Britain" regarding the agreement.
But Foreign Secretary David Miliband later conceded that the government's message may not be getting through to all voters. But he added it was important for EU nations to "pull together" to continue to be "a Europe of results" which delivered "concrete benefits to the citizen".
Labour MP Fabian Hamilton told Mr Miliband that one of his constituents had demanded a referendum, complaining that the treaty and constitution "were exactly the same thing". "I have every reason to believe that the opt-outs that were so hard fought for by Britain are going to be kept in the text. Now we need to have this matter settled and move on."
Mr Miliband told the Foreign Affairs Committee: "I think if you say we have to do a better job of explaining the difference, then fair dos."
Mr Brown will join other European leaders at an informal summit next week in Lisbon where they are expected to iron out any outstanding issues on the proposed treaty.
If agreement is reached as expected, the way is clear for the treaty to be formally agreed by the leaders at a conference in December.If agreement is reached as expected, the way is clear for the treaty to be formally agreed by the leaders at a conference in December.
Under a timetable envisioned by Germany and backed by several member states, the treaty should be ratified by the national parliaments of all EU member states by mid 2009, ahead of the next European elections. Under a timetable envisioned by Germany and backed by several member states, the treaty should be ratified by the national parliaments of all EU member states by mid-2009, ahead of the next European elections.