British FinMin in Paris to seek support for EU reforms

British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne flew to Paris on Sunday, his fist leg of a European tour to defend Britain's referendum on EU membership and promote UK's reforms, French foreign ministry said on Monday.

During his two-day visit started on Sunday, Britain's finance minister held talks with France's top diplomat Laurent Fabius and "discussed British requests for the referendum on membership of the United Kingdom in the European Union, to be held before the end of 2017," according to the foreign ministry statement.

The UK official also met his French counterpart Michel Sapin and Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron to shed more light on the necessity "to bring a lasting change in the functioning of the EU".

In Paris, officials saw the other face of the coin, saying that Britain could not expect Europe to be an "a la carte" menu, or expect to change the rules of membership just for itself.

"The democratic issues, the relationship between the euro area and the European Union, competitiveness and immigration are the four main pillars of the British reform plan," Osborne was quoted as saying by local media.

According to the British chancellor, the reform would help Europe to be "more dynamic and competitive" in order "to ensure prosperity and security for all".

London proposed to renegotiate terms of its membership in the European bloc, suggesting mainly tougher rules to prevent migrants claiming benefits and exemption for Britain from the EU drive for closer union. Endit