HAMMERING OUT A DEAL WITH THE UK

Objective one: protect the single market for Britain and others outside the Eurozone

Mr. Cameron’s biggest fear in the EU is that the 19 countries that use the euro will use their majority in the 28-member EU to change the rules to the detriment of non-euro nations such as Britain, especially on the financial regulations that are vital to the City of London. Mr. Cameron wants new "binding principles"to ensure this will not happen. They could include an “emergency brake” allowing the UK to pause moves towards new regulations. The  problem is that to be binding, those new rules must be written into the EU’s fundamental treaties, a process that will not be completed before Britain votes on membership by the end of next year. To French officials, any provisions giving non-euro countries power to indefinitely stall eurozone votes are unacceptable, and France would refuse any "backdoor veto" for the City of London finance hub.

Objective two: write competitiveness into the DNA of the whole European Union

This is the easiest target to hit, not least because it is relatively nebulous. It is also an area where Britain has considerable support from reform-minded northern European nations, especially the Netherlands. The European Commission and its powerful Vice-President, Frans Timmermans, is also committed to reducing red tape on European businesses. So Mr Cameron will likely be able to declare victory by listing the regulations that are being abolished, though he is likely to stay away from rules around employee rights that some critics say hold back companies.

Objective three: exempt Britain from an “ever closer union” – and bolster national parliaments

Ministers insist those three words, from the EU’s founding Treaty of Rome, are not just symbolic and have been used to justify EU policies and laws that have reduced the scope for MPs at Westminster to set the rules for Britain. As such, they seek a formal legal exemption from “ever closer union” for Britain. An agreement here is quite likely, partly because some other EU leaders do regard this as a question of symbolism not substance. But ministers privately admit that meeting the demand of some Tory MPs to give Parliament at Westminster a veto over all EU rules is effectively impossible.

Objective four: tackle abuses of the right to free movement, and enable us to control migration from the European Union, in line with Mr. Cameron's manifesto.

The issue that matters most to British voters, and the one where it is hardest to meet their expectations. Mr Cameron is not seeking the right to limit the number of EU nationals who enter Britain. Instead, he wants agreement to limit such nationals’ right to claim British benefits, requiring them to work for four years before being eligible for child benefit, tax credits or council housing. Ministers say benefits are a “pull factor” for EU migrants.

Agreement there may possible, not least since Germany may accept that such changes are already permissible under existing rules. But some economists suggest tougher rules may not significantly reduce EU immigration, since most EU migrants in the UK work and do not claim welfare.