Tusk: EU must act quickly to avoid Brexit

Council president calls debate leading up to British referendum ‘unpredictable.’

STRASBOURG — European Council President Donald Tusk said Tuesday he would push hard to finalize a deal with Britain on key EU reforms in February as political uncertainty surrounding the U.K.’s membership in the Union made it necessary to act quickly and decisively.

“The result of the referendum is more unpredictable than ever before,” Tusk told members of the European Parliament at their plenary session in Strasbourg, referring to Britain’s impending vote on whether to remain in the EU. “Time is of the essence here, and this is why I will work hard to strike a deal in February. It will not be easy but it is still possible.”

Tusk said his staff was working hard with the European Commission “to bring us close to a solution” before a February summit at which EU leaders will consider reforms demanded by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of the vote. Tusk promised to table “concrete proposals” on the reforms before the summit, but ruled out any “compromise” on fundamental values such as free movement of EU citizens.

The negotiations on the so-called Brexit are focused on four areas, including protecting the single market, boosting competitiveness, allowing Britain to opt out of the EU’s ambition to forge an “ever closer union,” and limiting access to benefits for EU migrants both in and out of work.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker later took the floor in support of Tusk to say that none of these “four baskets” was simple but the EU would come up with “a fair deal for Britain.”

Tusk sounded less optimistic in assessing the outcome of the EU migration policy. He said there were “no more than two months to get things under control” in terms of implementing measures already decided by EU leaders. He said a March summit of EU leaders would be “the last moment to see if our strategy works.”

In the past eight months, only 272 refugees of a planned 160,000 have been relocated under a Commission plan. Tusk repeated a warning made by several political leaders in recent days about  “the collapse of Schengen” if the EU fails to deliver on its promises to solve the migration crisis. 

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