Brexit

Actress Emma Thompson said on Feb. 15 that it would be "madness" for Britain to leave the EU, adding that she felt more European than English.

Thousands of refugees could flock to Britain from France if voters decide to leave the European Union, a spokesman for David Cameron said on Feb. 8, underlining the prime minister's stance that an exit would hurt security.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has secured allowance to a ban on in-work benefits for EU migrant workers, at a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk.

The step will be enforced if London votes to stay in the EU. Other member states will also have to agree to the proposal.

France said Jan. 21 that a British exit from the European Union would be a tragedy, but warned that Britain's demands for reform could not be met at any price.

Prime Minister David Cameron warned on Nov 10 that Britain could leave the EU if it does not get the reforms it wants before a "once-in-a-generation" referendum to settle its troubled relationship with Europe.

Prime Minister David Cameron favours holding a referendum on Britain's European Union membership in June next year if leaders of other member states agree to the bulk of his reform plans at a December summit, The Times newspaper reported on Nov. 9.

Cameron has promised to renegotiate Britain's ties with the 28-nation bloc ahead of a membership vote by the end of 2017. 

Asked by the Financial Times to describe his ideal job, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said: “I would like to be Chancellor of Germany of course!” He made this comment during an interview held on the sidelines of the banking summit on Tuesday.

China hopes the European Union remains united and continues to play an important role in the world, a top Chinese diplomat said on Oct. 13 ahead of President Xi Jinping's trip to Britain, a country which will vote by 2017 on whether to leave the EU. 

Prime Minister David Cameron said his renegotiation of Britain's ties with the European Union was "bloody hard work" and refused to rule out campaigning for a British exit in a referendum if other EU leaders failed to grant him the concessions he wants. 

Germany and France have agreed that the European Union must set binding quotas for the number of migrants that each member state takes in to tackle a migrant crisis showing no signs of abating, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday.