Cameron lists demands for EU renegotiation

UK prime minister David Cameron will seek to prevent mass migration and European Union interference in police and judicial matters, he said yesterday, providing the most detail yet on how he intends to reform the country's relationship with the EU.

Under pressure from Eurosceptics in his Conservative party and the UK Independence Party (Ukip) ahead of European elections in May, Mr Cameron has promised to reshape the UK’s ties with the EU before giving citizens a vote on whether to leave the 28-nation bloc if he wins next year’s national election.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Mr Cameron, who had previously given little information on specific changes he wanted from the EU, outlined the key concerns at the heart of his approach to renegotiation.

Mr Cameron indicated his “support for the continued enlargement of the EU to new members but with new mechanisms in place to prevent mass migrations across the continent”.

Block legislation
He said German chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte shared his view that the status quo was not working, adding that he wanted national parliaments to be able to work together to block unwanted European legislation.

“No to ever-closer union. No to a constant flow of power to Brussels. No to unnecessary interference.

“And no, it goes without saying, to the euro, to participation in euro zone bailouts or notions such as a European army,” he wrote.

British police forces and justice systems should also be unencumbered by unnecessary interference from European institutions, including the European Court of Human Rights, the British prime minister said.

Referendum unlikely
Last week, opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband said a future Labour government was unlikely to hold a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU this decade, lowering the chances of Britain leaving the bloc.

Opinion polls show about 40 per cent of British voters want to stay in the EU, with about the same proportion wanting to leave, though they also show widespread hostility to immigration and dissatisfaction with established political parties.

Mr Cameron said that when he has achieved his “ambitious agenda” for a new EU, he would campaign for the UK to remain a member at a planned referendum in 2017.

“Delivering it will take time and patience,” he wrote. “It will require negotiation with our European partners.

"Some of the changes will best be achieved by alterations to the European treaties – others can be achieved by different means."
– (Reuters)