David Cameron has suffered a setback in his mission to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership terms after a series of EU leaders raised objections to his plans at a summit in Brussels.
Downing Street said the prime minister expected to face tough questions, adding that the EU renegotiations, which Cameron will launch at the European council later this month, would require patience.
In his most difficult day since he embarked on the initial, informal stage of his EU renegotiations after his election win, the prime minister was told by his Finnish and Spanish counterparts that they were wary of his calls for “full-on” treaty change.
Cameron was also told by the Romanian president and by the Belgian prime minister of their strong doubts about his plans to impose a four-year ban on EU migrants claiming in-work benefits. Cameron was told that they would not agree to any measure that discriminated against their citizens in the UK.
Downing Street put a brave face on the meetings, which show the monumental challenge the prime minister faces in renegotiating the terms of Britain’s EU membership. The objections raised in Brussels by the leaders, each of whom will wield a veto in the formal negotiations, go to the heart of Cameron’s EU blueprint.
His proposal on EU migrants was designed to show he could deliver a measure to discourage immigration from Europe without breaching the EU’s rules on free movement of people. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, warned Cameron last year that she would not countenance any change to free movement, prompting him to propose a measure that will not stop EU citizens working in the UK.
Cameron met the four EU leaders on the margins of a summit in Brussels between EU and leaders from Latin American and the Caribbean. The meetings with the Belgian, Romanian, Spanish and Finnish leaders were all described as friendly as they all said they were keen to help Britain remain in the EU.
But Cameron faced strong doubts over the substance of his reform plan. His tricky day started with a working breakfast with Charles Michel, the Belgian prime minister, who insisted that there could be no discrimination against EU workers.
Michel said after the meeting: “We believe in Belgium that the principle of free movement of workers is very important, and that non-discrimination and equal rights for European citizens is a very important thing. And on these issues then we will see in a negotiation if it is possible to find an agreement.”
Klaus Iohannis, the Romanian president, echoed those comments, saying: “No member state is allowed to treat people coming from elsewhere differently from its own people. But of course we have to find a solution. Nobody wants a discriminatory solution. But we are in a position where we have to find practical, non-discriminatory solutions which make it possible to treat these kind of problems.”
But Downing Street took heart after Iohannis voiced strong support for the prime minister’s view that the abuse of benefits by EU citizens needs to be tackled. Cameron wants to ensure that jobless EU citizens are effectively barred from claiming benefits.
Iohannis said: “Around 4 million Romanians live and work elsewhere in Europe. Most of them, a large majority, are very well-integrated in the societies, in the countries where they live and work. The problem is some try to go there to benefit from social help without really trying to get a job. This is the major problem.
“So in my opinion we have to try to separate these two. Leave the free movement as it is – it’s valuable we have to preserve it – and try to extract the part with the social benefit or social welfare … and try to solve that problem because it doesn’t have to come in a package. If you treat the problems separately in my opinion, we ave way better chance to solve it.”
Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, told Cameron that Madrid was opposed to EU treaty change as he voiced concern that the proposed reforms would undermine free movement, according to Spanish diplomats. But Rajoy struck a friendly note in public.
He said Cameron had “explained in a general way because he has said he intends to raise the proposed referendum in the next European council. He asked what we can do to keep the United Kingdom in the European Union. I first expressed my desire, agreeing with him, that the UK remains in the EU. Spain will be constructive when trying to help these plans go forward and the UK continuing in the EU.”
Juha Sipilä, the Finnish prime minister, told Cameron he was uneasy about starting a carousel of negotiations on revising the EU treaty as he spoke of exploring other legal avenues to achieve British aims. It is understood that Sipilä believes changing the treaty will encourage other member states to table their demands.
Cameron’s meetings in Brussels were more difficult than his recent tour of four EU capitals. He encountered unease in Paris and Warsaw but had friendlier receptions in The Hague and Berlin where Merkel suggested that treaty change was possible.
His spokeswoman said of the talks in Brussels: “The PM set out the issues that he wants to address as part of this renegotiation. Clearly there are going to be more discussions needed. But we have expected that. We have said that this process is going to take time. It is going to take patience.
“There will be different views expressed along the way. But what matters is the prime minister is determined to address the concerns of the British people and to work with others to find solutions on them … We need the European Union to be flexible, not rigid, and be able to accommodate the different issues of member states.”
