Britain would be irrelevant without us, claims EU chief... and he says plan to cap migration is illegal, too 

• European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso will attack leaders
• Intervention reflects growing fury in Brussels at Government's anti-EU tone 
• Shapps says reform's achievable, calls Mr Barroso 'unelected bureaucrat'
• David Cameron has pledged in/out referendum by 2017 if he wins election 

By James Chapman for the Daily Mail

Published: 18:53 EST, 19 October 2014 | Updated: 03:39 EST, 20 October 2014

David Cameron will today be accused of leading Britain to the EU exit door where it will not retain even ‘marginal relevance’ on the world stage.

In a highly provocative speech, Jose Manuel Barroso will attack Britain’s ‘defensive’ leaders for failing to ‘make the positive case’ for continued membership of the EU, insisting: ‘Could the UK get by without a little help from your friends? My answer is probably not.’

The intervention by the outgoing head of the European Commission reflects growing fury in Brussels at the increasingly strident anti-EU tone being adopted by Mr Cameron and his ministers.

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Interview: Jose Manuel Barroso, the outgoing head of the European Commission, appeared on the BBC's Andrew Marr programme yesterday

Yesterday Grant Shapps, Tory party chairman, insisted reform was achievable and attacked Mr Barroso as an ‘unelected bureaucrat’.

Mr Cameron, who has pledged to hold an in/out referendum on Britain’s EU membership by 2017 if he wins the general election, will set out plans to limit the number of European migrants joining the workforce within the next few weeks, according to Government sources.

He is considering an ‘emergency brake’ that could be applied if numbers of incomers exceeded forecasts, and further curbs on low-skilled EU migrants’ rights to benefits, tax credits and national insurance numbers.

Though there is growing support for reform in Germany, the Prime Minister is being warned by EU officials that fundamental changes to the right to free movement across the continent would require full-scale changes to the EU treaties that will be all but impossible to deliver.

Anti-EU tone: Prime Minister David Cameron (pictured with Mr Barroso in Brussels in March) will be accused of leading Britain to the EU exit door where it will not retain even 'marginal relevance' on the world stage

Yesterday Mr Barroso insisted an arbitrary cap on EU immigration would be incompatible with EU law and condemned Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond’s suggestion last week that Britain was ‘lighting a fire’ under the EU by proposing a referendum.

‘I think this reference to fires and weapons is more appropriate for defence than foreign secretary,’ the European Commission boss told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme, a reference to Mr Hammond’s previous Cabinet job. 

‘I think it is very important to have a positive tone between Britain and the EU.’

In today’s speech at Chatham House, the foreign affairs think tank, he will tell Mr Cameron that it is never possible to ‘win a debate from the defensive’.

‘We saw in Scotland that you actually need to go out and make the positive case. In the same way, if you support continued membership of the EU you need to say what Europe stands for and why it is in the British interest to be part of it,’ he will add.

Mr Barroso said yesterday he could not comment on proposals for reform of immigration rules that had not yet been unveiled by Mr Cameron.

Referencing his previous job: The suggestion by Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond (pictured) last week that Britain was ‘lighting a fire’ under the EU by proposing a referendum was condemned by Mr Barroso

But he added: ‘What I can tell you is that any kind of arbitrary cap seems to be not in conformity with European laws. For us it is very important – the principle of non-discrimination.

‘By the way, I remember when Prime Minister Cameron called me to ask the commission to be tough ensuring the freedom of movement between Gibraltar and Spain.

‘The British citizens have freedom of movement all over Europe. There are 700,000 living in Spain. So the principle of the freedom of movement is essential, we have to keep it.’

In today’s speech the EU boss, who will be replaced shortly by arch-federalist Jean-Claude Juncker, will accept there were ‘widespread concerns in the UK and elsewhere about abuse of free movement rights’.

He will point out some changes – such as the right to receive income support – have already been agreed, but insist further changes must be agreed by all countries and cannot put into question the ‘basic right’ of free movement.

Interviewed by Andrew Marr: Yesterday Mr Barroso (right) insisted an arbitrary cap on EU immigration would be incompatible with EU law

He will also warn Britain its current rhetoric is offending eastern European countries. Mr Barroso will dismiss the idea of a European ‘superstate’ but insist: ‘Today even the largest, proudest European nation cannot hope to shape globalisation – or even retain marginal relevance – by itself.’

Pointing to Mr Cameron’s current attempt to persuade fellow EU leaders to contribute £800million to curb the spread of ebola, he added yesterday.

‘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.’

Mr Shapps said Mr Barroso was ‘out of touch with the mainstream’s view in Great Britain, which is – it’s time to have a different relationship with Europe’.

He brushed aside Mr Barroso’s warnings about reform, saying he was ‘only the latest person from Europe to tell us we’ll never get what we want’.