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Cameron has set barrier for EU so low even Jean-Claude Juncker could hop over it

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David-Cameron-On-EU-and-Britain’s-MembershipOpinion by Denis MacShane

The Guardian today (12 May) carries an important front-pager from its very well-connected political editor, Nick Watt. It lists the four concessions the re-elected prime minister David Cameron now wants from the EU in order to satisfy his demand for a ‘new relationship with Europe” which would be put to referendum in 2016 well ahead of the French and German elections in 2017.

All four points are so minimalist and so far removed from what British Eurosceptics have been demanding that is hard to see how the EU, both the Brussels institutions and the 27 other member states would have problems in conceding them.

The four demands are:

1)  Allow at next treaty a protocol saying the UK is not covered by the words "ever-closer union of peoples" which has been in EU Treaty preambles since 1957.  The words were actually removed from the 2004 Constitution and it will be no problem to give UK its pathetic little extra paragraph at the end of the next major Treaty revision whenever that happens.

2) Reform and limit access to social benefits for EU migrant workers.  Again no big problem as ECJ has already signalled governments have power to do this.  The only hiccup would be if it is proposed to amend certain directives which requires the assent of the European Parliament. Also some eastern EU governments will not accept discrimination against their citizens.  But this is a matter of wording.

3) Give more power to national parliaments. Again this is already in the Lisbon Treaty but it means national parliaments have to create their own network and form a blocking group. The EU cannot give each national parliament the right to veto directives or Treaties but Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans has long argued for more involvement of national parliaments and language can be found on this to satisfy Cameron with a promise to examine putting into next Treaty more reference to national parliaments.

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4) Agreement that the eurozone cannot impose rules that discriminate against non-eurozone countries.  This battle has been won with the ECJ upholding a UK complaint against proposal that Euro trades can only be carried out in a Eurozone country.  So again this is pretty easy to find words on.

If these reports are right then the Cameron list of what he wants from the EU is so minimalist as not to matter much. It is far removed from limiting immigrants, repatriating powers, allowing the House of Commons to veto EU law and policy and other demands that the Tories, Eurosceptic papers and Ukip have put forward.  There is nothing on Social Europe so the demands from the CBI, and other business organisations for more power for employers and less rights for workers have just been ignored.

Assuming these minimalist demands are all that Cameron wants he can have those in time for the summer holidays.

Whether it is enough to make the Brits vote to stay in is another matter.  Even in countries that have high levels of pro-EU feeling like Netherlands or Ireland once a referendum is called everything changes and the pleasure in voting down what the government elites propose becomes very strong.

Denis MacShane is a former Europe minister, now senior advisor to Avisa in Brussels and author of Brexit: How Britain Will Leave Europe.

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