Prime Minister David Cameron has urged the EU to accept "a package that is credible with the British people," during a two-day summit this week in Brussels, according to AFP. The outcome of the summit will have a large impact on whether the British public will vote to remain a member of the EU in a national referendum that could be held as early as June, with Cameron claiming that he will support a "yes" vote if his package is accepted.
Cameron's list of proposed reforms includes several key demands, such as restricted welfare payments to EU migrants (including restricted child benefits) and extended protections from financial regulations for non-eurozone countries, according to The Guardian. These proposals have been met with some resistance, with Eastern European countries believing that welfare restrictions would discriminate against their populations, and other nations such as France taking issue with the special protections from which non-eurozone countries would benefit.
"We've got some important work to do today and tomorrow, and it's going to be hard," Cameron told reporters yesterday, according to The Globe and Mail. "I'll be battling for Britain. If we can get a good deal, I'll take that deal, but I will not take a deal that doesn't meet what we need."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Cameron's proposed reforms were "comprehensible and justified," claiming that keeping Britain in the EU was in Europe's best interests, according to the Guardian. Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, on the other hand, does not support the welfare reforms, telling the press "we want a good agreement but not at any price," according to AFP.
A copy of the final draft of Britain's proposed reforms crucial to the nation's continued membership in the EU was leaked on Thursday, and seemed to show that there is still widespread disagreement over the proposal, according to The Guardian.
Recent polls have shown that Britons are split on the issue of EU membership, with a slightly higher number of people preferring to remain in the EU, the AFP reported. A large number of Britons remain undecided.
