LONDON
Outgoing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Sunday the UK would risk losing all its influence if it left the EU.
Barroso warned British Prime Minister James Cameron about his EU reform plans in the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
“What would be the influence of the prime minister of Britain if he was not part of the EU? It would be zero. Inside the EU, you can get much more than outside the EU," he said.
He stressed that a UK withdrawal would be negative for both, the EU and the UK.
"Britain is a great country with a great history. But it is 60 million people. Do we believe that Britain alone can discuss on an equal footing with the US or with a giant like China? If it does it in the EU, yes we have much more influence,” the commission’s president said.
Barroso also criticized Cameron for trying to rewrite the EU's freedom of movement principle. "The freedom of movement is a very important principle in the internal market. My strong advice to Britain is not to put that in question, that principle," he said.
Barroso is expected to stand down as commission president next month after 10 years. The European Commission is the EU’s executive branch.
The UK's Sunday Times reported recently Cameron might cut on EU migration by imposing a cap on the number of national insurance numbers issued to EU immigrants with low skills.The British prime minister reportedly also has plans to crack down on EU's 'benefit tourism' and wants to impose restrictions on the movement of people from current EU member states.
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