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David Cameron’s reforms will not change UK-EU relations: Lawmakers

London: Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposed European Union reforms would not fundamentally change Britain’s relationship with the bloc and there is no certainty anything promised would actually be delivered, a committee of lawmakers said today.
Last month, Cameron set out in a letter to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, the four key areas where he wants to see changes ahead of a membership referendum he has promised to hold in Britain by the end of 2017.

In a report published ahead of a Thursday meeting of EU leaders at which Britain’s demands will be discussed in more detail, parliament’s European Scrutiny Committee said the proposals did not do enough to boost national sovereignty.

The lawmakers criticised the government’s renegotiation process as lacking transparency and said parliament should have been more involved in debating what changes Britain would seek before Cameron set out his proposals.

Assessing each of the areas of renegotiation, the committee said the political and legal challenge of achieving Cameron’s demands on limiting some welfare payments to EU migrants was ‘formidable’ and questioned whether the proposals would even have a significant impact on immigration levels.

As this would be a lengthy process which has to be agreed by all 28 members and in some countries would require a referendum, it would not be possible to cement such changes before Britons go to the polls, the committee said.

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