UK PM eyes 'real progress'

Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday said he hoped talks with European Union leaders would provide "real progress" towards a deal on better membership terms for Britain before a vote on staying in the bloc.

Other EU leaders, who will be meeting Cameron for dinner in Brussels, want to help him ensure Britain votes to stay in the EU in a referendum due within two years, with opinion polls showing the number of Britons wishing to leave is growing.

But Cameron faces an uphill struggle to win agreement on curbing welfare payments to EU migrants to try to reduce immigration, a proposal some leaders say breaks the fundamental EU principles of non-discrimination and free movement of people.

Cameron says he wants Britain to stay in the EU, but has promised to campaign for an exit from the bloc if he fails to win an agreement that can reduce immigration, improve business competitiveness in the EU, give more sovereignty back to Britain and protect London's banks from interference by the euro zone.

But his proposal to make immigrants from the other 27 EU states wait four years before claiming "in-work" benefits in Britain - payments to people in lower paid jobs to make work more attractive - has been roundly criticised, especially in eastern Europe, for breaking EU law banning discrimination.

A British official said Cameron was offering no alternatives to his four-year proposal at the summit, but the prime minister was eager to hear whether other leaders had other suggestions that would help control immigration to Britain better.

EU officials said most European leaders were keen to help Cameron return to Britain with a message that he is winning in the talks, to turn the tide of opinion polls which suggest that those wanting to leave, or the 'out' camp, were gaining ground.