Brussels, 11/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The meeting of sherpas (the diplomatic advisers of the 28 EU member states) regarding the draft agreement with the UK came to an end on Thursday 11 February without any definite solutions on the most controversial points of the negotiation: eurozone integration and the safeguard mechanism for European migrant workers.
“All the delegations expressed their point of view, but no one point was discussed in particular”, a European source stated - these points being left in the end for the assessment of the 28 heads of state and government, who will meet in Brussels next Thursday and Friday. According to another European source, the sherpas' meeting was “constructive” with “good progress being made on the technical and legal clarifications”. However, the “most political points” remain “on hold”, this source stated, and they will have to be decided upon by the European leaders next week.
This new sherpas' meeting (they had already met in Brussels on 5 February) comes at a time when European Council President Donald Tusk deems the search process for a satisfactory solution for both sides as “fragile”. Tusk started a series of trips this Thursday to try to seal an agreement at the European summit - an objective the European leaders set themselves at their previous meeting last December.
Tusk is due to visit Paris, Bucharest, Athens, Prague and Berlin on Monday and Tuesday, and is due to meet Belgium's Prime Minister Charles Michel on Friday 12 February. He is also expected to meet Romania's Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, and leader of the Czech government Bohuslav Sobotka who currently chairs the Visegrad group (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary). These four central European countries are particularly concerned about the demands of British Prime Minister David Cameron, which aim to limit work-related social security benefits for European workers employed in the UK. The Visegrad group would therefore like assurances about the duration of this safeguard mechanism that could have the effect of depriving European workers of work-related social benefits for four years. News agency Reuters reports that the group would especially like assurances that this mechanism will not exceed four years.
On Thursday 11 February, Tusk met head of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, with representatives from the European Central Bank, as well as with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.
As far as the euro is concerned, France has expressed several concerns over recent days, wanting assurances that the UK will not be able to hamper development of the eurozone. Paris would like a precise time-limit on the capacity given to London to delay a certain project in order to assess its impact on the UK economy or a specific sector of its economy, Reuters states. A European source said that France is not alone, however, in expressing these points, as Germany is on the same wavelength and “generally, the whole eurozone”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)