Brussels, 24/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - After hosting a meeting with French President François Hollande at his country residence, Chequers, on Tuesday 22 September and joining up with his European partners at the informal European Council on migration on Wednesday 23, UK Prime Minister David Cameron met European Council President Donald Tusk on Thursday morning 24 September, to discuss the renegotiation of the UK's relationship with the EU.
A press release issued by the UK government on Thursday morning says the two men welcome the progress in the current technical-level discussions which focus on the four areas where the UK is looking for changes: competitiveness, sovereignty, economic governance and access to social security. The two agreed that the European summit in October would be the next stage before December's European Council discusses a special renegotiation report.
The working group led by Jonathan Faull has been active since 1 September, the Commission said on Thursday, though details of its deliberations have not been made public. Exploratory discussions have already taken place with the UK authorities, the Commission says, indicating that the working group will consider strategic questions related to the referendum and, in this, is working with DGs ECFIN, FISMA and EMPL and the Commission's legal services.
On Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 September, UK Home Secretary Philip Hammond was in Brussels for meetings with European officials, including High Representative Federica Mogherini and Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Growth and Investment Jyrki Katainen and also European Parliament President Martin Schulz and MEPS of various groups. His message was that London is looking for a raft of reforms that will benefit all of Europe's citizens.
No real talks before 2016, Hammond says. According to the British media, Hammond gave assurances on Tuesday 22 September that negotiations would not begin in earnest before next year. Also according to the British press, he stated that the current migration crisis was helping the United Kingdom's case and making it easier to sell the package of reforms it wanted, particularly on the issue of migration. The situation would help London's demands on reducing the number of (European) migrants, he is reported as saying by, inter alia, the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph.
After his re-election in May, Cameron promised to hold a referendum, by 2017 at the latest, asking British citizens whether they wanted to remain in the EU or to leave. Prior to the referendum, he hopes to convince his EU partners to make reforms that will, he says, allow him to campaign for this country's staying in the Union. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)