Prime Minister David Cameron admitted there was “still no deal” Friday as he headed into a second day of talks after all-night negotiations failed to deliver an agreement to stop Britain crashing out of the EU.
European leaders dug their heels in over Cameron’s reform demands, which include reducing welfare payments to EU migrants and opting out of a commitment to ever-closer union, forcing him into a corner.
“We’ve made some progress but there is still no deal,” Cameron said as he entered fresh talks at the Brussels summit, five hours after the previous night’s negotiations broke up.
“As I have said, I would only do a deal if we get what Britain needs, so we are going to get back in there.”
Cameron has said that without an agreement he will not campaign for Britain to stay in the 28-nation European Union in a referendum that he is expected to hold as early as June.
A British official said EU president Donald Tusk was ready to let the talks run until Sunday, adding: “We may have a deal today, we may not.”
