Although Schulz said Parliament was committed to being as constructive and fast as possible in the case of a deal, he could not guarantee the outcome: “To be quite clear, no government can go to the parliament and say, ‘This is our proposal. Can you give a guarantee to ensure the result?’ This is not possible in a democracy, but the European Parliament will do the utmost to support the compromise and a fair deal, but I can’t guarantee the result in the European Parliament.”

Schulz made his comments while addressing journalists following his meeting with Cameron, which he called “constructive”. They discusses issues such as migrants claiming benefits and how to prevent non-eurozone countries from being discriminated.