Thursday

28th Mar 2024

EU states tentatively approve draft UK deal

  • Cameron (r) will campaign fellow member states to accept the Draft EU-UK agreement

The EU’s draft agreement with the UK received moderate backing from governments in eastern Europe, who had been critical of British prime minister David Cameron’s plans to curb benefits for EU workers.

Governments across Europe are still studying the small print of EU Council chief Donald Tusk’s proposals for a deal with the UK to keep it in the EU, but gave tentative backing to the plan on Tuesday (2 February)

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

EU leaders will discuss the draft agreement for the first time on 18 and 19 February.

Tusk’s plan offers Britain a gradual, four-year brake on welfare for EU workers, and cuts benefits for children of EU workers living outside Britain.

Eastern European countries had argued that cutting benefits for EU workers was discriminatory and threatened the principle of free movement.

Poland, which supplies the bulk of EU workers in Britain, wanted to see more details before signing up to the plan.

“Free movement of workers and services is a fundamental value of the European Union,” Polish 
president Andrzej Duda said Tuesday, Reuters reports.

"There is a clause [in the deal] saying that in the case of a sudden influx of wage migrants some payments could be curbed. We will see what the interpretation [of the clause] is."

Cameron will visit Poland on Friday to encourage Warsaw to accept the deal.

“We are analysing the latest proposal thoroughly,” Polish prime minister Beata Szydlo also said.

The Polish and Hungarian foreign ministers will meet in Budapest on Wednesday to coordinate their positions.

“While Hungary supported Britain’s effort to cut down on the abuse of its social system, the government opposes any discrimination in benefits among workers hailing from the EU,” Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said, according to Bloomberg.

The Czech Republic gave a positive first signal, with state secretary for EU affairs Tomas Prouza telling Bloomberg the draft agreement was a "very good solution" for keeping the UK in the EU.

“It doesn’t mean totally closing the UK and it isn’t turning anyone into a second-class citizen,” he added.

Berlin has kept quiet so far. But Cameron is to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 12 February.

Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the German parliament’s committee on foreign affairs, told the Guardian, a British daily, that the draft proposal was a “good and fair compromise, and a convincing outcome that Cameron can present to the British public”.

Denmark’s prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen tweeted on Tuesday that Tusk’s proposals were a good basis for negotiations. He will also meet Cameron on Friday.

Cameron-EU deal is 'good enough'

Cameron gets heat at home for allowing his goals to be watered down in the proposals put forward by EU Council chief Tusk, but UK officials argue it is a good basis for a final deal.

EU tables deal on UK demands

EU Council president Donald Tusk released a draft for an agreement to keep the UK in the EU that includes an up to four-year limitation on benefits but no treaty change.

Feature

British EU officials in limbo if UK leaves

Directors likely to get golden handshakes. Managers and MEPs to be lame ducks. Pensions safe. But if UK exit talks turned ugly, British officials could suffer.

EU founding states pledge deeper integration

The six founding members of the EU have recommitted to building a more integrated union, while acknowledging others may move at their own pace, backing the idea of a "two-speed" Europe.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  2. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  3. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  4. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  5. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult
  6. EU unveils plan to create a European cross-border degree
  7. How migrants risk becoming drug addicts along Balkan route
  8. 2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us