David Cameron: EU reform is 'not an impossible task'

Today is a significant step towards the EU referendum, which must take place by the end of 2017.

The letter to the European Council is unlikely to be an itemised shopping list of demands. Instead it's likely to set out the four - now familiar - objectives the government is pushing for.

The most politically-charged - and potentially hardest to achieve - is restricting in-work benefits to EU migrants for a number of years.

That was a Conservative Party manifesto pledge - and David Cameron is expected to repeat that commitment.

The Vote Leave campaign said it expected David Cameron to get what he's asking for because it's a "trivial" list of demands.

But as he lights the fuse for the next stage of intense, potentially difficult, negotiations to come, Mr Cameron will say the mission is big - but not impossible.

The prime minister insists he wants Britain to stay in a reformed EU. Getting a deal that matches the billing will be crucial for his case.

In his speech, Mr Cameron said: "When you look at the challenges facing European leaders today, the changes that Britain is seeking do not fall in the box marked 'impossible'.

"They are eminently resolvable, with the requisite political will and political imagination."

Alongside publication of the PM's letter, Chancellor George Osborne will meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels as part of the renewed diplomatic push for EU reform.

The Vote Leave campaign said Mr Cameron's negotiating demands were likely to be "trivial" and that the only way for the UK to regain control of its borders and democracy was by leaving the EU.

Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell, meanwhile, has dismissed the PM's position on the EU as "a lot of bluff and bluster" and more about "appeasing" some of his Eurosceptic backbenchers.

He told the BBC that Labour's position was that Britain should stay in the EU and "negotiate our reform agenda as members of the club".

Mr Cameron's speech comes after he told the CBI conference on Monday he had no "emotional attachment" that would stop him backing a UK exit if his EU renegotiation failed.

Referendum timings

David Cameron is understood to want an early vote, but has already been forced to rule out holding the poll on 5 May 2016, the same day as national elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There has been speculation the referendum could be held as soon as June next year - but Downing Street has dismissed this as "not true".

In a speech on Monday evening, Europe minister David Lidington said the PM's priority was the "substance" of the talks rather than timing.

Mr Lidington said: "He doesn't want to hold up the discussions and agreement any longer than necessary but what he's not going to do is to cut a deal which he is not satisfied with for the sake of a particular arbitrary deadline."

But he added that there would be "a few months" between the date of the referendum being announced and the poll taking place.

/By BBC/