LONDON (Sputnik) – Cameron and Tusk held telephone talks on Wednesday.
"They agreed that good progress had been made in all 4 areas of our renegotiation and that the draft texts presented a good basis for agreement at tomorrow’s European Council, subject to the satisfactory resolution of outstanding issues. They looked forward to continuing the discussion at their meeting ahead of the Council tomorrow afternoon," Downing Street said in a Wednesday release.
The leaders of 28 EU member states are expected to meet in Brussels on February 18-19 to discuss an agreement with the United Kingdom on its future in the European Union as well as the ongoing migration crisis.
Cameron has pledged to hold a referendum on Britain’s EU membership. Ahead of the vote, the prime minister is seeking to revise the terms of his country's membership in the bloc.
The demands put forward by London include shifting power away from EU authorities back to the UK national legislature, exempting Britain from the EU "superstate" principle, denouncing the euro as the single official EU currency, and protecting the British economy by keeping Eurozone members away from non-Eurozone countries’ affairs.
In response to the demands, Tusk has proposed a settlement plan for the United Kingdom, which includes proposals in areas of economic governance, competitiveness, sovereignty, social benefits and free movement. The settlement plan is expected to be the key matter of discussion at the upcoming Brussels summit.
Tusk's proposals have met opposition from Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Czech Republic as they could put into question the social benefits for their citizens, working in other countries of the 28-nation bloc. Germany and France are reported to back the deal with the United Kingdom and their support could contribute to reaching the agreement during the summit.
