British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, speaks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker prior to a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday, October 15, 2015.
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He added: “I am confident we can get a good deal for Britain, we can fix those things that need to be fixed, and I am confident this process is getting well under way and making good progress”.
Mr Cameron also discussed his demands during Thursday’s summit.
Mr Murphy, who travels to London for talks with Britain’s Europe minister David Lidington next Friday, expressed confidence that changes could be achieved without changes to the European Union treaties.
“Above all, we need clarity on what we are going to be discussing over the next few months”.
The Prime Minister defused a brewing confrontation in Brussels by announcing that he would send a “substantive” letter outlining his reform agenda at the beginning of November.
“We need to have something by the beginning of November at the latest – we need proposals on the table so member states know what they are actually looking at”.
British PM needs to make the case against Brexit in Birmingham and Bristol, not in Brussels, says Denis MacShane.
But a spokeswoman for the president rushed out a clarification, insisting that the Luxembourger – who speaks English as a second language and appeared to “swallow” the critical word as he spoke – had been misheard and had in fact said “personally I do think Britain needs the European Union”.
The United Kingdom has a list of demands for changing EU membership, including changes to welfare benefit rules for migrant workers from within the EU, the lifting of the commitment to an “ever-closer union”, measures to protect states outside the eurozone and supremacy in various areas for national parliaments. Pro-Europeans warn an exit from the European Union would hurt Britain’s economy and could trigger the break-up of the United Kingdom by prompting another Scottish independence vote.
But Ukip leader Nigel Farage was dismissive about Mr Cameron’s demands for change in Brussels.
Technical talks between British and European officials which began in June to prepare the ground for Cameron’s formal demands had now “reached their limits” and needed to move to the political phase, another EU source said.
“Nor do I believe that there is a compelling economic argument to override those considerations”, he said during a debate on the government’s referendum bill, in comments published on Hansard, parliament’s official record.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday she would work constructively with Britain but cautioned that there would be no haggling over the principle of free movement and the principle of non-discrimination.
I look forward to the negotiations over BAP – British Agricultural Policy – when we quit the CAP.
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It also opens the door to new negotiations in the Asia-Pacific area, including with Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
