EU Trying Hard To Keep The UK In Organization
The crisis-laden 28-nation bloc has once again assembled in Brussels to confront multiple issues that deepen the political divide among members. One of the most contentious hurdles EU is facing today is finding a middle ground deal both acceptable to Cameron's Euroskeptic Tories and the more Eurocentric nations on the continent.
As mentioned in a New York Times report, the most challenging question that confronts the union is how much compromise both sides can agree on as far as the principles of European integration are concerned. In a nutshell, the fundamental driving force of the EU is an "ever closer union"- that should have been an article of faith already but has since been challenged with the rise of increasingly nationalist right across the EU undermining the decades-long struggle for open borders and transnational mobility among EU citizens.
While infighting rages among Euroskeptic and Eurocentric leaders, British PM David Cameron is set to cut a deal, albeit with significant amount of delays following his marathon talks with top EU leaders, on hot-button issues like welfare payments to other migrant workers from other EU member-states as well as extremely sensitive sovereignty issues.
"We managed to have a compromise on many, many issues... but we still need more clarification, more guarantees to get the compromise which would be satisfactory for both sides. There's still some way to go, we need some hours," remarked Poland's Europe minister Konrad Szymanski as quoted saying by BBC News.
The Conservative-led government is currently under pressure to a secure a deal that would favor UK ahead of a referendum- likely to be held in June- over Britain's future with the EU. A "Brexit" is not a distant possibility if Britons vote in favor of leaving the EU which some British MPs fear would create a retaliatory backlash from other European nations. Main opposition parties, except for the UK Independence Party or UKIP, are expected to campaign for Britain to stay within the EU as stated in a report by The Guardian.
