Brussels, 15/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 15 February, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron and the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, began a number of visits to European capitals to prepare the European Summit on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 February. During the summit, the two men are hoping to set out the terms of the agreement on negotiating the United Kingdom's EU membership.
Therefore, Cameron is expected to visit Paris on Monday evening 15 February to meet President France François Hollande, after a meeting with Angela Merkel on 12 February. On Tuesday 16 February, he will travel to Brussels, to meet the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, followed by the EP Sherpas, the MEPs, Guy Verhofstadt, Elmar Brok and Roberto Gualtieri. The British leader will then meet the presidents of the EPP, S&D and ECR groups, Manfred Weber, Gianni Pittella and Syed Kamall.
The Prime Minister was expected to meet with the Presidents of the EP groups in a Conference of Presidents format but given the lack of time opted for a reduced format meeting. According to an unofficial explanation, the Tory leader was determined not to meet the Presidents or representatives groups from the Europhobic groups headed by Nigel Farage and Marine Le Pen. Cameron is also expected to meet Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, particularly to discuss the subject of welfare benefits.
The President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, is expected to travel to Paris, Bucharest, Athens, Prague and Berlin between 15-16 February.
According to the British newspaper, The Guardian, on Sunday 14 February, one of the points to resolve by Thursday and Friday is the request by Eastern European EU countries, the so-called Visegrad states (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia), to obtain the certainty that the limitations put on access to work-related social benefits will only be implemented in the United Kingdom and not in other member states. The Visegrad group also met up on 15 February in Prague to clarify its position.
On 15 February, the President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, also spoke out on the British question to the ECON Committee. He informed the MEPs that “What is guiding the ECB in this negotiation on anchoring the United Kingdom in the Union is: protecting the single market and our monetary union”. He highlighted the “considerable advantages of the single market” and appealed for an international agreement to be as clear as possible. He also informed the committee that this renegotiation could provide an opportunity for further eurozone integration. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic and Mathieu Bion)