Has Dave squared the circle?
Cameron closing in on 'four years' deal on in-work benefits to deter EU migrant workers
Outlines of EU deal emerging that will allow David Cameron to claim victory on his key pre-referendum demand to curb benefits for EU workers
By Peter Foster, Europe Editor
8:00PM GMT 07 Jan 2016
David Cameron is poised to do a deal with Europe that would strip away incentives for EU workers to come to Britain - a move that could hand him a big "win" ahead of next summer’s planned referendum on Britain’s EU membership, The Telegraph has learned.
The outlines of a deal acceptable to all sides have emerged following December’s European Council summit where Mr Cameron made an impassioned case for Britain’s need to curb the wave of migration that has hit the country since it opened its doors to new EU states in 2004.
Mr Cameron had demanded the right to make non-British EU workers wait four years before claiming in-work benefits, but was roundly rebuffed at the summit on the grounds that it would infringe the core EU principle of non-discrimination.
However the Telegraph understands that European states are now offering Mr Cameron a deal that would require new British workers aged 18-22 to wait four years for in-work benefits, while simultaneously finding a back-door "fix" to ensure those workers were not left out of pocket.
“It was clear from the December summit that discrimination was simply not possible, so this is the solution that a number of European countries have agreed is the only one that works,” a European diplomatic source with knowledge of the negotiations said.
The source added that following the summit the onus was placed on Britain to find a reform to the UK’s own benefits system that would enable the Treasury to make up the difference for British workers through a separate “social payment”.
The solution would satisfy EU legal concerns on discrimination and take advantage of recent European Court of Justice opinions accepting that EU migrants can be denied some kinds of non-contributory social security benefits.
'It’s in his party manifesto, it was in his letter to [Donald] Tusk, everyone understands Cameron needs a ‘win’ on benefits within the limits of the Treaties - which are broad'
EU source
More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/eureferendum/12087830/Cameron-closing-in-on-four-years-deal-on-in-work-benefits-to-deter-EU-migrant-workers.html