(Image source from: David Cameron has sealed Special status for Britain in European Union})

David Cameron, British Prime Minister has sealed a deal for "special status" in the European Union after a marathon summit, paving the way for him to campaign to stay in the bloc in a historic referendum. "I've negotiated a deal to give the UK special status in the European Union," Cameron told a press conference. "I will be campaigning with all my heart and soul to persuade the British people to remain in the reformed European Union that we have secured today."

EU president Donald Tusk - the man who brokered the deal - said the "unanimous" agreement "strengthens Britain's special status in the EU" and is "legally binding and irreversible".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe's most powerful leader, said that the accord is a "fair compromise". "I do not think that we gave too much to Great Britain," she said.

French President Francois Hollande, insisted that the British deal contained "no exceptions to the rules" of the EU.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, the first to break the news of the agreement, tweeted: "Drama over."

Yet the drama is only just beginning for Cameron, as he battles eurosceptic members of his own Conservative Party and a hostile popular media. The euro and British pound gained after the announcement, with the single currency rising to $1.1131 in New York, from $1.1105 Thursday, and the pound to $1.4392 from $1.4335.

Anand Menon, professor of European politics at King's College London, said he expected both sides to emphasise the risks of either leaving or sticking with the status quo. "This is going to be a depressingly negative campaign," he said.

“Michael is one of my oldest and closest friends, but he has wanted to get Britain to pull out of the EU for about 30 years,” Cameron said. “So of course I am disappointed that we are not going to be on the same side as we have this vital argument about our country’s future. I am disappointed, but I am not surprised.”

“In an uncertain world is this really the time to add a huge new risk to our national and our economic security? I don’t believe that is right for Britain,” he said at a press conference on Friday night. “I believe we are stronger, safer and better off inside a reformed EU.”

“Do we leave, do we go for that leap in the dark, with all the risk to our national security, that is the question which everyone is listening will have to make,” he said.

“His priorities in these negotiations have been to appease his opponents in the Conservative party,” Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn said. “He has done nothing to promote secure jobs, protect our steel industry, or stop the spread of low pay and the undercutting of wages in Britain. Labour’s priorities for reform in the EU would be different, and David Cameron’s deal is a missed opportunity to make the real changes we need. “We will be campaigning to keep Britain in Europe in the coming referendum, regardless of David Cameron’s tinkering, because it brings investment, jobs and protection for British workers and consumers.”

By Premji