Britse conservatieven wensen nieuwe onderhandelingen over Europese afspraken (en)

With general elections expected in May in the UK, the opposition Conservatives are promising far-reaching changes in the country's EU agreements.

According to a senior Tory John Redwood, the shadow deregulation secretary, the new Conservative cabinet would push for the UK'd withdrawal from the common fisheries policy and for more control over immigration, social and employment measures, while cutting down on unnecessary business regulations.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Redwood did not rule out the UK pulling out of the EU if there was a significant opposition in Brussels to such moves by London.

He said a Conservative government would go to Brussels with its "renegotiation package" right after a public "no" vote on the EU constitution, which would be held this autumn - as opposed to the Labour plans for a later date for the referendum.

However, he argued that the Conservatives were not envisaging the UK leaving the EU completely, as was interpreted by their Labour opponents.

Instead, Mr Redwood maintained that a sweeping renegotiation of the UK terms was feasible, although he was not sure how long it would eventually take to achieve "a better deal for Britain".

"At the moment, we are putting forward very moderate proposals and we have left a large number of areas so far untouched, mainly because quite a lot are very Europe dominated and [axing them] cannot be done until we've talked to our partners and see how far we can go," Mr Redwood is quoted by the FT.

More backing for the EU pull-out

Meanwhile, Labour campaigners are planning to open a new EU-related front against their Tory competitors today (31 March), according to Guardian.

They will react to remarks by a Conservative vice-chairman, Andrew Rosindell, quoted on a website of the Eurosceptic Bruges Group, suggesting the Tories should develop a new relationship with Europe, including abolition of the European Parliament and ending the supremacy of EU laws over British statutes.

Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, is expected to call on the opposition leader, Michael Howard, to ask Mr Rosindell to either take his words back or be fired from his official party post.