Jose Manuel Barroso believes that the influence of Britain would be non-existent if it decided to leave the European Union. He said Britain could not be able to negotiate with the United States or China as an equal, if left on its own. As a response to Barroso’s statements, Grant Shapps, the chairman of the Conservative Party said that Mr. Barroso was out of touch with reality and insinuated that his opinion does not matter since he is an “unelected bureaucrat”.
When asked about his intention to negotiate a better deal for Britain within the European Union, David Cameron declared that he would not accept any excuse and he will get what Britain needs, as far as the freedom of movement issue is concerned. A referendum is planned to take place by 2017 if the Conservative Party remains in power. Barroso said that he believes the Prime Minister actually wants Britain to remain in the European Union. He said: “Britain is stronger in the European Union,” Mr Barroso said, pointing to the Ebola crisis as an area where Britain would not have the same level of influence if it was outside the EU. “[…] David Cameron wrote to all of us about Ebola… What would be the influence of a prime minister of Britain if it was not part of the European Union? His influence would be zero”. David Cameron declared he wanted to reduce migration within the European Union. Last week he said he planned one last negotiation. Jose Manuel Barroso said that previously, David Cameron had asked him to enforce the free movement principle between Spain and Gibraltar. Barroso believes that since more than 1 million Britons live in various parts of the European Union, it is a “matter of fairness” that other European citizens have the same rights.
Jose Manuel Barroso also took up the problem of Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. Last week he had declared that Britain was fighting a fire under the European Union with the referendum. Barroso declared: “I’m told the foreign secretary was the former minister of defence. I think this reference to fire and weapons is more appropriate for defence than foreign secretary”. Mr. Barroso believes it is crucial to maintain a positive tone for discussions between EU and Britain. Soon after declaring this, Shapps criticized Barroso: “If he can dismiss us… then every other country in the EU ought to look out because apparently no country means anything to him”.