David Cameron: my seven targets for a new EU

David Cameron sets out the seven major changes he wants to make to the European Union to stop Britain being “sucked into a United States of Europe”.

In an article for The Telegraph, the Prime Minister declares that he will campaign for Britain to stay in the EU in a referendum planned for 2017, if Brussels agrees to his terms.

He discloses his broad agenda for renegotiating Britain’s membership, including demands for reform to Europe’s immigration, human rights and trade laws, as the price for remaining in the EU.

However, the Conservative leader warns Right-wingers in his party that achieving these changes will take “time and patience”, and urges Eurosceptics not to engage in “shouting from the sidelines”.

“I completely understand and share people’s concerns about the European Union,” Mr Cameron writes.

“People are worried that Britain is being sucked into a United States of Europe. That may be what some others want, but it is not for us.”

In his article, Mr Cameron warns that public support for the EU is now “wafer thin” and for the first time sets out his seven “specific changes” that he wants to secure. These are:

:: New controls to stop “vast migrations” across the continent when new countries join the EU;

:: Tighter immigration rules to ensure that migrants come to Britain to work, not as tourists planning to cash in on “free benefits”;

:: A new power for groups of national parliaments to work together to block unwanted European legislation;

:: Businesses to be freed from red tape and “excessive interference” from Brussels, and given access to new markets through “turbo charging” free trade deals with America and Asia;

:: British police and courts liberated from “unnecessary interference” from the European Court of Human Rights;

:: More power “flowing away” from Brussels to Britain and other member states, rather than increasingly centralising laws in the EU;

:: Abolishing the principle of “ever closer union” among EU member states, which Mr Cameron says is “not right for Britain”.

The intervention is seen in Downing Street as a “serious and sober” contribution to the EU debate that adds significant detail to Mr Cameron’s negotiating strategy for securing major changes in Europe. It follows an investigation by The Telegraph which found that EU passports were being sold for £150,000 to non-Europeans in Bulgaria, a disclosure that will add to public concerns over European migration rules.

Last year, Mr Cameron promised to secure a better deal for Britain and put the resulting new terms of EU membership to voters in an in-out referendum by the end of 2017, if the Conservatives win next year’s general election.

However, while the pledge temporarily satisfied his Eurosceptic MPs, Mr Cameron has come under increasing pressure to adopt an even tougher policy towards Europe.

Earlier this year, 95 Conservative MPs supported calls for Parliament to be given the power to veto all aspects of European law, a demand which Downing Street rejected as “impossible” to deliver without leaving the EU altogether.

Senior Tories privately admit that they are facing a “very tough” battle with the UK Independence Party, which is expected to perform well in the European Parliament elections in May.

However, Conservative strategists are more concerned that Ukip will derail their hopes of winning a majority in next year’s general election.

Mr Cameron’s strategy will be broadly endorsed by a group of leading pro-European Conservative MPs tomorrow when they publish a report on the Tory party’s relationship with the EU. The report, by the Conservative European Mainstream group, features articles from 18 Tory MPs, including government aides and former Cabinet ministers.

In the essays, the MPs collectively say that the Conservatives must campaign vigorously for Britain to stay in the EU instead of “being marginalised at the fringes” of Europe.

Damian Green, the policing minister, will speak at the launch of the paper in London. In his essay for the pamphlet, he warns that Britain will lose vital opportunities for greater economic prosperity by leaving Europe and calls on his colleagues to promote the case for the UK’s “full and enthusiastic” membership of the EU. “I welcome the chance to engage the public in a serious debate about our future. Bring it on,” he says.

“For the moment, though, we need to start making the basic economic case that we are Better Off In.”

Privately, senior Tory figures regard Ukip as the greatest obstacle to defeating Labour, as polling shows that the anti-Europe party is splitting the Right-wing vote in key marginal constituencies.

Last week, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, attempted to settle his party’s policy on European referendum, but caused confusion by almost ruling out such a vote while promising to hold one if significant changes occur in Brussels.

In today’s article, Mr Cameron says that the Conservatives are the only party that will deliver an in/out referendum for voters after the 2015 general election.

“The British people now have a very clear choice: if you want a referendum on whether Britain should stay in the EU or leave, only the Conservative Party will guarantee to hold one,” he writes. “If I am Prime Minister after the election, I will negotiate a new settlement for Britain in Europe, and then ask the British people: do you wish to stay in the EU on this basis, or leave?”

He argues that “the status quo” in Europe is not working” and needs to change.

“While it would not be a very smart negotiating tactic to lay all Britain’s cards on the table at the outset, I know people want more detail about the specific changes we will seek. So I can confirm today that addressing these concerns will be at the heart of our approach.”

In what will be seen as a message to his own Eurosceptic MPs, Mr Cameron admits that his plan for “a new European Union” is “ambitious”, adding: “Delivering it will take time and patience, as well as strong relationships with our key allies and goodwill – not shouting from the sidelines.”

He is clear that changes to existing EU treaties will be required, despite claims from François Hollande, the French president, that no treaties will be rewritten before a British referendum.

Mr Cameron describes his critics who say his plans are impossible to deliver as “defeatists”, and urges voters who want a reformed EU not to back Labour, the Liberal Democrats or Ukip at the forthcoming European elections. “Only Conservative candidates will campaign for this agenda in the European elections in May; we need a strong team elected who will fight Britain’s corner,” he says.

The 62 MPs in the European Mainstream group are broadly supportive of Mr Cameron’s strategy. Laura Sandys, the Tory MP for South Thanet and the convener of the group, issued a thinly veiled criticism of her Eurosceptic colleagues.

“Some people have a disappointingly defeatist attitude to the UK’s status on the world stage,” she said. “We need to persuade our colleagues and the public that Britain is not a downtrodden country in Europe but a leading reformer whose voice and interests are frequently dominant.”