BBC Online :
David Cameron has said there is a “long way to go” before he can agree to new proposals that would restrict in-work benefits for EU migrants.
A plan for a so-called “emergency brake” on tax credits has been put forward as a way to break the deadlock in talks over the UK’s EU membership.
The PM, who is meeting EU officials in Brussels, said there was progress but the plans were “not yet strong enough”. Poland has said its citizens cannot be “denied social benefits” in the EU.
The plan, reported to have been tabled by the European Commission, has also been dismissed as a
“sick joke” and “an insult to the UK” by one leading Eurosceptic Conservative. The prime minister, who is meeting the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, is hoping to get an agreement next month to pave the way for an in-out referendum this year.
Mr Cameron wants to prevent migrants from other EU nations from claiming tax credits – income supplements paid to those in low-paid work – for four years, which he says will help reduce high levels of immigration to the UK.
He is thought to have backing for his other three negotiating demands – but the benefit restrictions are being resisted by Central European member states, who view it as discriminatory against their citizens.
The idea of the emergency brake has been on and off the table ever since David Cameron started trying to renegotiate the UK’s relationship with the EU.
Arguably, he wanted an emergency brake on EU migration full stop. He’s watered that down for it to focus on in-work benefits for up to four years.
The current idea would be that Britain could initiate a request for this emergency brake for up to four years if it could prove Britain’s social and welfare system is under excessive strain from immigration.
David Cameron has said there is a “long way to go” before he can agree to new proposals that would restrict in-work benefits for EU migrants.
A plan for a so-called “emergency brake” on tax credits has been put forward as a way to break the deadlock in talks over the UK’s EU membership.
The PM, who is meeting EU officials in Brussels, said there was progress but the plans were “not yet strong enough”. Poland has said its citizens cannot be “denied social benefits” in the EU.
The plan, reported to have been tabled by the European Commission, has also been dismissed as a
“sick joke” and “an insult to the UK” by one leading Eurosceptic Conservative. The prime minister, who is meeting the European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, is hoping to get an agreement next month to pave the way for an in-out referendum this year.
Mr Cameron wants to prevent migrants from other EU nations from claiming tax credits – income supplements paid to those in low-paid work – for four years, which he says will help reduce high levels of immigration to the UK.
He is thought to have backing for his other three negotiating demands – but the benefit restrictions are being resisted by Central European member states, who view it as discriminatory against their citizens.
The idea of the emergency brake has been on and off the table ever since David Cameron started trying to renegotiate the UK’s relationship with the EU.
Arguably, he wanted an emergency brake on EU migration full stop. He’s watered that down for it to focus on in-work benefits for up to four years.
The current idea would be that Britain could initiate a request for this emergency brake for up to four years if it could prove Britain’s social and welfare system is under excessive strain from immigration.
