The Prime Minister flew to Iceland last night for a summit for Northern European leaders, where he is expected to lobby fellow EU leaders over his much-vaunted campaign to renegotiate Britain’s relationship with Brussels.
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Negotiations over Britain’s future in the European Union will ramp up in the coming weeks, David Cameron has said.
He told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions: “I spluttered over my cornflakes when I read my Daily Mail this morning, because we worked so hard to put in place these filters, but I can reassure that we secured an opt-out yesterday so we can keep our family friendly filters to protect children. Maybe a few third alternative is better for the United Kingdom, I couldn’t say or at at least I wouldn’t like to speculate”. If a small nation such as Norway can use the European Economic Area/EFTA to its advantage – they are far more prosperous per head – then the United Kingdom will be able to use it as a platform to deliver what we want: a genuine common market without the baggage of political union. We are not part of the EU’s attempts to coordinate taxation, so Norway is free to set taxes and duties to finance our welfare state as we wish.
Guy Levin, executive director of Coadec (the Coalition for the digital economy) which is driving the protest, said: “The government has a strong record supporting digital entrepreneurship, so it doesn’t make sense that it is considering changes that would make it tougher for startups and scale-ups to thrive”.
Eurosceptics were quick to highlight a European Parliament vote on Wednesday to increase EU spending plans, partly to deal with the migration crisis, as evidence of waste in Brussels. Immigration is a top concern among British voters and a key element of the debate over remaining in the EU.
“People need to understand that there are significant downsides”, the source said. “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”, he said.
“Unlike Britain, Norway has no votes and negligible say over the rules governing free movement, like European Union migrants’ access to benefits”.
“Labour has consistently said that in an increasingly interconnected world Britain should be leading from inside Europe, not watching from the outside as others take decisions that affect jobs, growth, investment and our security without having a voice at the table”.
Denmark is “symbolically important” in its ability to bridge British and German interests, said Pieter Cleppe, the head of the Brussels office of the Open Europe group.
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“Today it is clear that the real challenge to those who want Britain to walk away from Europe must be: what does their vision of “out” really look like?”
