British Prime Minister David Cameron said talks on his country’s EU membership would continue into Friday evening at a summit of European leaders in Brussels.

“Negotiations are continuing into this evening,” Cameron wrote on Twitter.  “A Cabinet meeting won’t be possible tonight. One will be held if and when a deal is done,” he added in announcing that he would not fly back to London, as previously planned.

European leaders have been discussing the future of Britain’s EU membership and the migrant crisis, among other issues, in a marathon session since the summit opened Thursday.

Earlier, European Parliament President Martin Schulz told reporters that he believed the summit would end Friday as scheduled.

Schulz hopeful

“I believe that we will come to a conclusion today. My impression is that though there are differing opinions, we are moving towards compromise, at least among the members of the European Council,” he said.

Schulz said that the issues require an intense legislative process and conditional demands by EU member states do not work.

“I’m serious about the United Kingdom staying within the EU, and we need to make it clear that there is a mutual interest in this. Saying ‘I’ll tell you what to give me in order to stay here’ does not work, we need to move towards compromise,” he said. “My impression is that David Cameron is aware of that and as far as I know, the government of the United Kingdom is moving as well.”

Tusk reports some progress

European Council President Donald Tusk said that progress had been made on Britain’s renegotiation for continued membership in the EU during the first day of the summit.

“For now I can only say that we have made some progress but a lot still remains to be done,” he said. “Now I will hold a series of bilateral meetings, starting with [British] Prime Minister [David] Cameron, [French] President [Francois] Hollande, [Czech] Prime Minister [Bohuslav] Sobotka and [Belgian] Prime Minister [Charles] Michel.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tusk’s comments came early Friday as the majority of EU heads of state and government left the summit, while Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker continued to hold bilateral talks to reach a deal.

Cameron’s demands

Cameron forged a tough stance on the issues Thursday, when he warned that he was not prepared to take a deal that did not meet his country’s needs.

The British prime minister has four key demands: welfare restrictions to curb immigration, safeguards for Britain, which does not use the euro currency, increasing EU competitiveness and clarifying that Britain is not formally obligated to work toward a closer union with its European partners.

EU leaders are also discussing ways to deal with the worst migrant and refugee crisis the continent has faced since World War II.
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