David Cameron says a draft deal
aimed at keeping Britain in the EU will deliver the "substantial change"
he has been demanding to how it is run.
But the UK prime minister said there was "detail to be worked on" before a crunch summit on 18-19 February.
Mr Cameron will visit Poland and Denmark on Friday, as he embarks on a
whirlwind charm offensive to persuade the other 27 EU leaders to sign
up to the Tusk package in Brussels on February 18-19.
The deal, published by European Council President Donald Tusk, allows for an "emergency brake" on migrant benefits.
But campaigners for an EU exit said the deal did not come close to the changes Mr Cameron had promised.
What's in the draft deal
Mr Cameron's proposed four year ban on in-work benefits for EU
migrant workers could come into force immediately if the UK votes to
remain in the Union.
But it would have to be agreed by other EU
nations and it would be "graduated", with more money from tax credits
paid to migrants the longer they remain in the UK.
It says Mr
Cameron's demand to exempt Britain from the EU principle of "ever closer
union" between member states would be written into a future treaty.
There
are also measures relating to protection for non-euro countries in the
EU, a new way for member states to club together to block some new EU
laws and on business regulations.
Did Cameron get change in the areas he wanted?
Migration: The prime minister got his emergency
welfare brake. But it is not clear how easy it will be to pull that
brake or how long it will last, says the BBC's James Landale.
Benefits:
While the in-work benefits of EU migrants will be curbed for four years
if other countries agree, they will be gradually restored the longer
they stay in the UK. EU migrants will be able to send child benefit back
home, but would get a lower level if the cost of living in the country
where the child is is lower. Mr Cameron had wanted to block all of it.
Sovereignty:
The PM has secured a clear legal statement that the UK is not committed
to further political integration and that the phrase "ever closer
union" cannot be used to integrate the EU further. But it is not yet
clear when or how this will be incorporated into the EU treaties. He has
also got new powers for national parliaments to block new EU laws but
the thresholds are pretty high before those powers can be used.
Competitiveness:
The PM has got some language that commits the EU to strengthen the
internal market and cut red tape. But they have been promising to do
that for years.
Protecting non-euro countries: There will be a new mechanism to get the eurozone to think again about decisions that could hit the City of London.
Security: The
PM has got some unexpected gains, making it easier for countries to
stop terror suspects coming into the country even if the threat they
pose is not imminent. There will also be a crackdown to stop people
using sham marriages and other loopholes to gain access to the EU.
What happens now
Mr Cameron will visit Poland and Denmark on Friday, as he embarks on a
whirlwind charm offensive to persuade the other 27 EU leaders to sign
up to the Tusk package in Brussels on February 18-19.
If Mr
Cameron can get an agreement in February, he is expected to hold a
referendum in June on whether Britain should remain in the EU.
Mr
Cameron has until the end of 2017 to hold a referendum. A July or
September referendum remains a possibility but a repeat of last summer's
migrant crisis in the Mediterranean and eastern Europe could make Mr
Cameron's job of making the case for remaining in a reformed EU more
difficult.
A cross-party group of MPs, led by the SNP, has warned
Mr Cameron against holding the EU referendum in June, arguing it will be
too close to elections in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, London and
local authorities. Labour has said it will not block a June referendum.
What David Cameron said about the deal
The prime minister said "more work" needed to be done to "nail down"
details but added: "We said we needed to deliver in four key areas, this
document shows real progress on that front."
He said the
proposals were some "something worth fighting for", and were good enough
that he would back Britain joining the EU under these terms, if it was
not already a member.
He said Britain could have the "best of both
worlds" by giving it access to the single market and a voice around
the top EU table, while retaining its status as a "proud independent
country not part of a superstate".
He said ministers would be free
to campaign for either side in a personal capacity, but the government
would "not be taking some sort of neutral position".
"If we get
this deal in February or in March or later and if the cabinet agrees to
this deal the government's position will be to campaign for Britain to
stay in a reformed European Union."
Asked by the BBC's Laura
Kuenssberg if he could guarantee the reforms would cut immigration and
had not been watered down, he said: "I can say, hand on heart, I have
delivered the commitments made in my manifesto."
What those who want the UK to leave the EU say
Richard Tice, co-founder of Leave.Eu, accused Mr Cameron of "trying
to deceive the British people by saying that there's substantial change -
there is nothing except a restatement of the existing status quo".
The
Vote Leave campaign said Mr Cameron had broken a key Conservative
manifesto pledge to insist on a four year ban on in-work benefits,
saying that the ban was now conditional.
Former defence secretary Liam Fox said the proposals did not "come close" to the changes voters had been promised.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said Mr Cameron's deal was "pathetic" and "hardly worth the wait".
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