LONDON: European Union president Donald Tusk on Sunday called on Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street as negotiations reach a decisive point ahead of a referendum on whether Britain should leave the bloc.
The working dinner comes before Tusk is expected to publish draft proposals early this week for how to reform Britain’s relationship with the EU, which Cameron can then use to campaign against a so-called “Brexit”.
British officials hope that a final deal can be nailed down at a Brussels summit being held on February 18 and 19. That could then open the door to a referendum in June.
But Cameron insists that he is willing to hold out for as long as it takes to secure the right package of reforms, if necessary delaying the referendum to September or even next year.
Opinion polls currently suggest that Britons would vote to leave the EU by a small margin. Tusk’s visit comes after Cameron held a hastily-arranged meeting with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker Friday to try and resolve the British leader’s main concern — reducing the number of EU migrants coming to Britain.
Cameron wants to be able to use an “emergency brake” to curb the amount of benefits payments which migrants can claim. He emerged from the talks with Juncker saying that, while there had been “progress”, the proposal on the table was “not good enough”.
