David Cameron has told other European Union leaders that he is not seeking EU treaty change in his current reform negotiations but would be satisfied with a protocol similar to those won by Ireland and Denmark in the past.
Speaking after a two-day summit in Brussels, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the British prime minister had explicitly cited the Irish and Danish precedents.
“He confirmed that he’s not looking for treaty change, he’s not looking for a veto, he’s not looking to interfere in any way with the development and the progress of the euro zone. He spelled out the reasons why he wanted to do this and he’s very clear on this and said he would be perfectly happy if a successful outcome could be had to these discussions and dealt with in the way that Denmark and Ireland dealt with their problems in the past,” Mr Kenny said.
A protocol is a diplomatic agreement, approved by all EU governments, which is subsequently attached to an EU treaty, giving it the same legal force as the treaty itself. After Ireland rejected the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum in 2008, the government won a series of guarantees which were enshrined in a protocol in advance of a second referendum in 2009.
The protocol was attached to the treaty that accepted Croatia into the EU in 2013.
Demands
Speaking after Mr Cameron’s presentation to EU leaders on Thursday night, German chancellor Angela Merkel said that some of Britain’s demands might require treaty change but that such changes may have to be delayed. But Mr Kenny said that the British prime minister had made clear that he would not be seeking anything more than Ireland and Denmark had won.
“There was no discussion that there should be a treaty change, no discussion of when there might be a treaty change. He made that point himself, I’m not looking for treaty change. He would be quite happy to follow the line that Denmark and Ireland applied over the years where that was agreed, heads of government agreed it and signed off and it became effective when the next subsequent treaty took place whenever that might be,” Mr Kenny said.
The Taoiseach said that, although Mr Cameron had not withdrawn his proposal to oblige citizens of other EU countries to wait four years before claiming some UK welfare benefits, the European Commission was working on alternative options ahead of another summit next February.
“The proposition still stands but he’s prepared to work to get an outcome to this, as is everybody else. So he was clear on that. So I think over the next eight weeks you’re going to see a lot of activity focusing on the issues that were of concern to people,” Mr Kenny said.
