EU: Britain can’t impost its agenda on other members

British Prime Minister David Cameron has said that if he wins Thursday’s election, he would hold a referendum on European Union membership in 2017 once he has renegotiated EU treaties to wrest back powers from Brussels – notably a right to limit immigration within the 28-nation bloc. However, EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker said Britain cannot impose its agenda on the bloc’s other 27 members.

I am a strong defender of the freedom of movement of workers, this is a basic principle of the European Union.

EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker

Cameron has said he wants to be able to limit an influx of people from other EU states to Britain, putting him at odds with the European Commission, which says EU treaty provisions ensuring free movement of labour are non-negotiable. It is far from clear that Cameron will be returned to power, with opinion polls suggesting that neither his ruling Conservatives nor the centre-left Labour Party will win enough seats to control parliament on their own.