The Chancellor said the central attraction of membership was the economic benefits and he preferred to talk about the EU as a “single market of free trade”.
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Paris: Britain’s Finance Minister George Osborne said yesterday he believed a “win-win” solution was possible to reform the EU ahead of his country’s in-out referendum, as he kicked off a tour of European capitals.
Lord Boswell, chairman of the cross-party Lords EU committee, said there were concerns over “the lack of transparency”, adding: ‘It’s vital that Parliament and the public are kept informed, and are not simply presented with a done deal at the end of the process.’. The task force will report back to both governments by the end of the year.
Osborne will be pushing to make the EU a more “competitive and dynamic continent” to deliver “prosperity and security for all of the people within it, not just for those in Britain“. That of course includes Britain.
He added: “That can create a win-win situation, it will require substantive reform, and when we have a good deal, we will out it to the British people in that referendum”.
“I am a great believer in Britain defending itself, defending its values, projecting itself and its values overseas”, he said.
He told The Daily Telegraph: “I’ve always thought the mainstream bulk of the British public wants to be in Europe, not run by Europe“. I don’t think anyone claims that negotiation is going to be straightforward, but we have a lot of goodwill here in Paris – a willingness to engage.
Osborne also met counterpart Michel Sapin and was set to hold talks with Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius as Britain tries to drum up support for reforms to a European bloc still reeling from the Greece crisis.
Until now, France has appeared to be one of the biggest obstacles to David Cameron’s chances of winning a credible reform package in Brussels to put an in-out referendum to the UK.
Although British officials say they have no interest in undermining the principles, they also say that a few of their requests can not be fulfilled without treaty change.
Asked if she backed a flat rate of tax relief, she said: “That’s one of the things we will consider in the consultation”.
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In a brief exchange after the meeting, The Independent asked Mr Macron how far France could go to meet Britain’s demands. “We need to better understand what it is the United Kingdom wants to have, with more detail about the proposals and the requirements”. “Osborne was in France to clarify that his government is in favor of remaining in the European Union”. “If the eurozone moves forward to further integration, we accept that the interests of Britain and the other non-euro countries must be taken into account”.
