German chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron are set to meet over EU reforms before a crunch EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.

David Cameron has put himself in a corner, claiming that he can achieve EU reform instead of advocating for a British exit from the EU. But if he fails to strike a deal that will appease the eurosceptics within his own party and the country at large, he may find himself out of a job.

Those that advocate an EU exit, such as Nigel Farage of the anti-immigrant party UKIP, say that Britain has lost much of its sovereignty to Brussels and that it’s time to take those powers back. However, others such as former Labour home secretary and leader of the Labour campaign to remain within the EU. Alan Johnson believes that a vote to leave the EU would be catastrophic for Britain’s place in the world, for jobs and integration.

David Cameron has spent much of his time touring European countries, laying out the case as he sees it for Britain’s renegotiation. But he faces stiff competition from Angela Merkel who is seen as the unofficial leader of Europe. They both have their red lines and they both can’t afford to lose face in what will be a difficult and often tense period of negotiations.

Cameron has promised to hold an in/out referendum in 2017, but many analysts believe that he may try to hold it as early as autumn 2016 in order to capitalise on the first Tory majority since 1992.

LM/HA