LONDON - The European Union warned Britain on Monday that any breakthrough in talks on a better membership deal would have to be hard-won after senior officials were given an extra 24 hours to iron out differences.
Prime Minister David Cameron and European Council President Donald Tusk left a dinner on Sunday saying they had failed to reach a deal, and the two sides were somber in their assessments of how the negotiation stood on Monday.
Eurosceptic British lawmakers said the divergence was being played up to make an eventual agreement seem like a triumph, but EU officials poured some cold water on what Britain had called a “significant breakthrough” on measures to curb immigration. “It’s difficult,” said a source close to the negotiations. “The talks are going on non-stop, both negotiating teams are already in Brussels for further talks.”
The two sides have indicated they want a deal agreed by EU leaders at their Brussels summit in mid-February, enabling Cameron to call a referendum on EU membership as early as June.
Cameron’s spokeswoman told reporters: “There is more work to do in all four areas, more work in some areas than in others.”
But she said a “significant” agreement had been reached with the European Commission, the EU executive, allowing Britain to suspend some payments to migrants from the bloc for four years immediately after the referendum.
(Reuters)