Mr Krichbaum added that from his point of view, any attempt by Britain to renegotiate its position to reach a "new settlement" for continued membership would be resisted by its European partners.
But this year its bargaining position was weakened by a prior settlement involving a new union representing some 600, 000 chemical workers, which agreed last week to a 2.2% pay rise spread over one year from this summer and another 2% over the following nine months (2.7% annualised).