After a weekend of extremely difficult negotiations lasting more than 30 hours, David Cameron announced that he had succeeded in renegotiating Britain's relationship with the EU. Confident that he has ensured a special deal for the UK, he announced the date of June 23rd 2016 for the refrendum on Britain's future in the EU an IN-OUT referendum.

The UK and the EU a love-hate relationshipRECAP

1951 the UK refused to join the ECSC

1957 the UK refused to join the EEC

1960 the UK created EFTA, a free trade agreement outside the EEC

1961/1967 the UK was refused entry into the EEC

1973 the UK finally joined the EEC

1984 Thatcher negotiated the British rebate I want my money back!

1992 John Major signed the Maastricht Treaty but negotiated opt-out clauses and the priniciple of subsidiarity

1993 UKIP was formed by politicians and other anti-federalists hostile to the Maastricht Treaty

2013 Cameron proposed an in-out referendum on Britian's place in the EU

Why did Cameron propose a referendum?

Cameron believed he needed to make a new coalition to be re-elected but with who?

UKIP, strong from its victory in the EU elections 2014, was the new third party in British politics. To woo (sduire) UKIP voters, Cameron promised them a referendum on the EU if he were re-elected.

2015 General Election results

Unexpectedly, Cameron won a majority in parliament without need of a coalition (besides, no one in UKIP voted for him). HOWEVER, the referendum on the EU was a campaign promise so now he has no choice: he has to organize it even though he no longer needs it!

Cameron's speech on EU/UK renegotiations London 2015

The four renegotiating issues:

1 Britain would not have to accept any further movement towards European integration

2 The EU would have to become more competitive

3 EU members outside the eurozone would not be discriminated against by members in the eurozone and their monetary policies this to protect the City in London.

4 The UK would be able to freeze in-work benefit payments to EU citizens living in the UK for four years. He also wanted to stop child benefit pay.

Cameron believed he could negotiate a new deal for Britain. His critics said he was asking for too little. The first three points seemed feasible, the last point would be much more difficult to obtain because it was against the principles of EU law but it was a key issue in the British press and public opinion.

What deal did he manage to negotiate?

COMPETITIVITY no problem, many other member states agreed with him

SOVEREIGNTY EU treaty references to ever-closer Union do not apply to the United Kingdom

EUROZONE any one member outside the eurozone has the right to question and delay problematical eurozone policy. France refused the idea of any state having a veto.

BENEFITS a 7 year emergency break on in-work benefits. He wanted 13 years but the VISEGARD group blocked him. Child benefits will not be stopped but indexed to the country of origin starting in 2020 not exactly what he or public opinion wanted.

The referendum is set for June 23rd 2016. A simple in-out choice? What will be the main issues in the next 4 months?

1 The migrant crisis and how it is handled by the EU

2 The primacy of British law over European law

3 The question of democratic accountability

4 The economic consequences of leaving the EU: GDP / unemployment

5 The continuing problem of benefits for EU migrants

6 The reaction of Scotland to a BREXIT

7 The statute of EU workers in the UK and British workers in the EU

Cameron has said that it will be a non-party referendum which means each politician can campaign to stay or to leave. Recent polls say the STAY vote is at 51% and the LEAVE vote at 49% but around 20% of people are still unsure. The LEAVE vote is higher amongst the older generation whilst the young generation are more pro-EU.