Queen’s speech sets stage for PM David Cameron to pursue EU reforms and referendum by end of 2017
Pressure builds on Prime Minister Cameron to outline his proposed EU reforms following commitment to 'in-or-out' vote by end of 2017
Britain's Queen Elizabeth set in motion Prime Minister David Cameron's plans for a European Union membership referendum yesterday and he must now explain when it will be held and what changes to the EU he wants.
Cameron, who says he would prefer to stay inside a reformed EU but isn't "ruling anything out" if it fails to change, was re-elected on May 7 on a pledge to reshape ties with the bloc before allowing Britons to vote on whether to stay or leave.
That election unexpectedly gave Cameron's centre-right Conservatives a parliamentary majority - and with it the power to implement a political agenda without coalition compromises.
In a ceremony she has enacted 61 previous times in her reign, the 89-year-old queen delivered the speech in the House of Lords - parliament's unelected upper house - to a tightly packed audience of lawmakers in ordinary clothes and peers in red robes trimmed with ermine.
The Queen's Speech, delivered by the monarch but written by the government, included legislation to cap welfare benefits, freeze some taxes for five years and hold a vote on EU membership by the end of 2017 - all key Conservative election promises.
"My government will renegotiate the United Kingdom's relationship with the European Union and pursue reform of the European Union for the benefit of all member states," the queen said in her speech.
"Alongside this, early legislation will be introduced to provide for an in-out referendum on membership of the European Union before the end of 2017."
The law will be introduced into parliament today as Cameron begins a European tour to try to charm sometimes reluctant counterparts into endorsing his EU reform agenda.
The tour will include scheduled talks with French President Francois Hollande in Paris and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.
Cameron has previously said he would be ready to hold the referendum before 2017 if he completes the renegotiation early, something some pro-EU campaigners advocate.
But he is under pressure from some of his own Eurosceptic lawmakers who want him to ask for more and to take his time reaching any settlement.
Some EU politicians have complained they do not know enough, beyond what they say are broad and nebulous goals, about what it is Cameron wants to change.
He says he wants to decouple Britain from the EU's official aim of "ever closer union" and to be able to restrict EU migrants' access to Britain's welfare system.
Cameron is adamant that such changes would require re-opening the EU's founding treaties, something countries such as France oppose.
In a potential setback for the prime minister, a Franco-German plan shows the two countries have agreed plans to strengthen cooperation among the 19 countries using the euro currency, without changing existing treaties.
The blueprint would bolster the euro zone, of which Britain is not a member, by holding more regular summits of its leaders and strengthening the Eurogroup forum of finance ministers.
Other laws Queen Elizabeth outlined during her speech yesterday included a crackdown on illegal immigration, more devolved powers for Scotland and a bill preventing any rise in key taxes before 2020.