An EU summit on Thursday will not waste any time on Britain’s referendum campaign, Berlin signalled on Wednesday, declaring dismissively that there was nothing to talk about.



In a week that saw the launch of the opposing campaigns for Britain to remain in or leave the EU, Thursday’s summit had initially been intended to devote much debate to the British question.

But David Cameron’s tactics on his EU negotiations before an in/out referendum within two years came under fire from various quarters in the EU because of mounting frustration over the vagueness of the prime minister’s demands.

The British question has now been relegated to a one-sentence and final item on the draft summit declaration, after senior officials who had been meeting to prepare the agenda said their British counterparts did not appear to have a mandate for negotiations that got under way in July.

A senior German government official said the British issue “will play no role at the European council [summit]”.

“There’s no need now for further talks,” he said. “There have been no negotiations.”

Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission – who is to have lunch with Cameron on Thursday – voiced the broad impatience with Cameron’s tactics, telling the European parliament: “I cannot say huge progress has been achieved.”

“To tango it takes two,” he added. “I’m not a splendid dancer but I know the rules. I have to dance. Our British friends have to dance, too.”

The timetable is slipping on the negotiations because London declines to give details of its desired reforms and demands for repatriation of powers, pushing back the likely date of the UK referendum to a year from now at the earliest.

But the main frustration in Brussels and EU capitals is less with the likely date of the referendum than with British refusal to stipulate its requirements in writing to supply a solid basis for negotiations.

They are also concerned that, in the absence of a document, British demands could change according to the political weather.

The UK is beginning to acknowledge the problem. “We would expect something, at some stage, in writing,” British officials concede while refusing to be pinned down on specific demands and whether they could change. “We’ll be ready when we’re ready,” said an official. “It takes as long as it takes.”

A non-British ambassador to the EU said Thursday’s summit would feature “just a report about the first phase of the negotiations”.

He added that there would be a “series of talks” with senior officials from the EU, UK and other member states in the weeks ahead, as the British negotiation shifts into a more political phase. “This should improve understanding on both sides.”

Cameron accepts that his negotiations to redefine Britain’s EU membership terms may drag on into the spring of next year. The prime minister is preparing to hold substantive negotiations with fellow EU leaders at their summit in December.

But officials expect that a deal may not be concluded until the spring European council meeting in Brussels between 17 and 18 March. This suggests that the referendum on Britain’s EU membership may not be held until the summer or autumn of next year because the campaign must last at least 10 weeks after the prime minister makes a final decision.

One British source said: “It is quite something to expect a member state to complete a renegotiation of its EU membership terms within six months. It might be wrapped up by December but it might need a little more time.”

Downing Street believes that the negotiations, which have been taking place at a technical level among officials in Brussels, will enter into a more political phase after the Polish election on 25 October. The prime minister is expected to meet a series of EU leaders on a one-to-one basis over November in the run-up to the summit in December.

One British official said: “From the prime minister’s perspective with his visit to Brussels, he really sees it as an opportunity to press ahead with the UK’s renegotiation. [The meetings] mean he will have had a second round of talks with the leaders of the main institutions.

“He had the bilateral with Donald Tusk [the council president] after the recent European council” as well as recent discussions with the French and German leaders, François Hollande and Angela Merkel.

“It is an opportunity for him to be talking them – where the technical talks have got to and now how we really progress these negotiations in the run-up to December.”

The official added: “One would expect technical work would continue in parallel. But you will see more discussion at a political level and between a wider group of players over the next few months.

“The technical talks have been between the UK and officials from the council and the European commission as appropriate. Clearly as we work to achieve this negotiation you are going to need to have discussions with many more member states.”