British Prime Minister David Cameron found his reform agenda sidelined at a tense EU summit Thursday as leaders warned he faces a tough negotiation ahead of a referendum on whether to leave the bloc.
As he walked into the summit dominated by Greece and migration, Cameron said it marked a "significant milestone" in Britain`s bid to renegotiate ties with the European Union before a referendum due by the end of 2017.
Sources expect European leaders to discuss his proposals only briefly on Thursday night before agreeing to move to the next stage in the process -- technical talks. The issue is thought likely to be mentioned briefly in the final summit communique.
Other European leaders at the summit are focused on trying to keep Greece in the eurozone and grappling with an influx of migrants from Middle East and African trouble spots, meaning substantial talks on reform will have to wait.
Few leaders commented on Britain`s prospects for securing change as they arrived for the high-stakes summit, although countries including France have made clear they are wary of the proposals.
But Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, fired a shot across the bows of Cameron, who has insisted the changes he wants require treaty change.
"I think treaty change is quite difficult and the UK government should not only exclusively focus on treaty change," he said.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said he was in favour of cutting red tape and increasing modernisation, as urged by Cameron.
"But if it involves dismantling European unity and rolling back the eurozone, we are against that," Michel added.
Estonian premier Taavi Roivas said he was ready to listen to Cameron`s proposals but added: "The EU is stronger with Britain inside and I also believe that Britain is much more prosperous inside the EU".
Queen Elizabeth II used a state visit to Germany on Wednesday, during which Cameron also held talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, to warn that "division in Europe is dangerous".A senior EU diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity predicted that a comprehensive discussion of proposed reforms would have to wait until "the second half of the year".
Meanwhile a senior EU official expected British reforms to take up one line in the summit communique.
"They will decide what is the timeframe and how this process should be organised in the four months to come," the official added.
Cameron`s official spokesman said what mattered was "the substance and that technical work gets under way before the summer".
Senior EU civil servant Jonathan Faull, a Briton, has already been appointed to lead a taskforce on the British referendum in Brussels.
The summit comes after several weeks of whirlwind diplomacy by Cameron since he won last month`s general election in a bid to make his case for change to fellow EU leaders.
Downing Street expects he will have spoken to all 27, mostly in person, by the time the summit starts.
There is even a call scheduled with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, whose own country faces an uncertain future in the EU because of its debt crisis.
As discussions enter the next stage behind closed doors, Cameron -- who wants to stay in the EU if he gets the right changes -- faces increasing pressure from his centre-right Conservative party to be clearer on exactly what he is pushing for.
Officials point to four broad areas of negotiation -- improving competitiveness; ensuring fairness for non-eurozone countries; protecting sovereignty, including opting out of the EU`s commitment to "ever closer union" and limiting access to benefits for migrants.
They have refrained from being more specific in public and Cameron`s Europe Minister David Lidington has warned that doing so could prejudice the negotiation.
While the referendum must take place by the end of 2017, ministers are keen to hold it sooner if possible and some senior Conservatives now believe it will take place in the second half of next year.
