Talks began Thursday evening and continued overnight, but had not reached any conclusion by the early hours of Friday morning. European Council President Donald Tusk, who is leading the negotiations emerged to say: "For now I can only state that we have made some progress but a lot still remains to be done".
First bilateral this night with PM @David_Cameron and @JunckerEU on new #UKinEU settlement pic.twitter.com/qcCDuUi5lf
— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) February 19, 2016
Cameron himself said nothing as he emerged from the all-night talks at 0500 CET, but German Chancellor Angela Merkel said:
"The agreement’s not easy to take for many but good will is there. We are ready to compromise because advantages are higher than disadvantages when there is Brexit."
The key sticking points surround the UK’s demands to opt out of "ever closer union", non-discrimination of non-Eurozone countries and benefits for non-UK EU citizens working in Britain.
On the first — the question of "ever closer union" — the offer on the table is for provisions within the European treaties "allowing those that want to deepen integration to move ahead, whilst respecting the rights of those which do not want to take such a course".
However, some countries including Belgium have said they are unhappy about setting a legal guarantee to allow states to opt-out of greater political union.
Benefit Clash
On benefits, there is considerable opposition to Cameron’s demand for a limit on benefit payments for non-UK workers until they had been working for four years – the so-called "emergency brake". These benefits include tax credits, housing support and payment of child benefits to children not living in the UK – all of which have caused anger among many euroskeptics in the UK.
I'm in Brussels where I'm negotiating hard for Britain. I'm clear, I'm not prepared to take a deal that does not meet what Britain needs.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) February 18, 2016
There is strong opposition to this part of the negotiation – particularly for Poland and Romania who see this as discriminatory. Many of Cameron’s counterparts were taken aback when he arrived at the summit calling for the "emergency brake" to continue for 13 years and not the four stated in the draft proposals on the agenda.
Cameron also ran into trouble on the matter of the single currency and banking union. Although he is calling for countries not in the Eurozone not to be discriminated against, he is facing hostility on the subject of banking union and financial supervision, with many believing he is seeking to ensure London remains unconstrained by EU financial regulation.
Belgian MEP Philippe Lamberts, co-chair of the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, summed up the feeling among many EU lawmakers over Cameron’s attempt to secure a deal that he could put to his own political party back home, which is deeply divided over Europe.
"The influence of the UK has been reduced by his moves and, quite frankly, a number of us are a bit annoyed that this whole renegotiation business is about solving internal Conservative Party issues than talking about the future of Europe," Lamberts said.
After a marathon night, during which opposition to Cameron’s demands was stronger than he had hoped after glad-handing most European leaders in the week’s running up to the summit, talks will resume again Friday afternoon.
