Brussels, 01/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Monday 1 February, the representatives of the British government on the one hand, and of the European Council and the European Commission on the other, discussed draft reforms aiming to move on relations between the United Kingdom and the EU. These discussions were still underway as EUROPE went to press.
In the event of a positive outcome to the negotiations, President of the European Council Donald Tusk may this Tuesday unveil the text which is the subject of an agreement and which will be used as a basis for the discussions of the European summit of Thursday 18 and Friday 19 February.
On Monday, the European Commission confirmed information divulged the day before by the Cabinet of British Prime Minister David Cameron that the European institution had tabled a text clearly stating that the United Kingdom is currently facing “circumstances” which would support the activation of an emergency clause allowing the granting of social benefits to certain categories of European migrants to be limited temporarily. These circumstances include the pressure brought about by calls for aid from migrants on the British social security budget. This emergency brake clause may be used by all member states.
Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas declined to go into details on this mechanism, stating that the text had not been put to the other member states. He stated that the work was to continue in the four areas which are the subject of British requests, with the aim of concluding an agreement which is satisfactory to all 28 EU member states.
On the question of the free movement of persons, the British made specific requests which would prevent certain categories of non-European migrants from entering the United Kingdom and settling there. On Monday, Cameron's spokesperson highlighted the 4,000 fake marriages which allow third-country nationals to marry an EU citizen and take advantage of the right to the freedom of movement every year. The British government also has its sights set on Court of Justice case-law (Metock judgment, C-127/08), which states that the non-Community spouse of a European citizen may live with the citizen and move through the Union without having previously lived legally in a member state (see EUROPE 9986).
On Sunday evening, Tusk and Cameron decided to continue the negotiations, after a working dinner in London. On Twitter, Cameron said that the work made satisfactory progress, particularly since his visit to Brussels on Friday 29 January, where he met President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker (see EUROPE 11479).
Another plank of the negotiations concerns relations between the countries of the eurozone and those outside it. The United Kingdom does not want the increased economic integration of the 19 to have a negative impact on its financial situation or that of the City of London, and refuses to make a financial contribution to bailing out defaulting eurozone countries via Community mechanisms in which it participates. On Monday, the Financial Times reported a French document warning against any veto which would allow London to prevent the eurozone from increasing its integration and managing any future emergency. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Solenn Paulic)