EU leaders 'far from agreement' on UK renegotiation, warns Tusk
EU leaders are "far from an agreement" on Britain's renegotiation demands, despite "significant progress" being made, European Council president Donald Tusk has warned.
The UK's renegotiation will be discussed during a dinner of EU leaders at a crucial summit in Brussels this week.
In a letter to the 28 leaders, Mr Tusk said there should be "no taboos" during the talks.
"We are still far from an agreement on several topics," he wrote. "This Thursday we will need to focus especially on the most controversial ones. The stakes are so high that we cannot escape a serious debate with no taboos."
A key sticking point in the negotiations is believed to be David Cameron's call for a four-year ban on migrants claiming in-work benefits in the UK, which was included in the Conservative Party's general election manifesto.
The Prime Minister is under growing pressure to secure concessions during the negotiations, with polls suggesting the outcome of a looming in-out referendum could come down to the result of the renegotiations.
Mr Tusk said leaders need to "pave the way for an agreement" at a council meeting in February.
Mr Cameron made a series of phone calls to senior EU figures ahead of the summit, including German chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
Downing Street said the Prime Minister "set out his aim to progress the UK renegotiation" at this week's meeting during the calls.
Mr Tusk's confirmation that the UK renegotiation will be the sole subject on the agenda for Thursday's working dinner was welcomed by Downing Street.
Asked what "taboos" may need to be discussed at the dinner, Mr Cameron's spokeswoman said: "Our intention, with the president of the European Council, is to have a full, substantive, frank discussion of all the areas where we are seeking reforms, whether that is the rules around euro ins and euro outs to make sure neither are disadvantaged if the eurozone integrates further or whether it's around what we have acknowledged is the more sensitive issue of immigration and welfare."
Number 10 also welcomed an agreement reached in Brussels for the European Commission, European Parliament and European Council to work more closely together on cutting red tape for small businesses as they take EU legislation forward.