British PM Cameron in Brussels for crunch EU talks

LONDON

British Prime Minister David Cameron was in Brussels Tuesday for key talks on EU renegotiation as European leaders showed signs of unease at the terms offered to Britain.

Cameron was meeting European Parliament President Martin Schulz and senior lawmakers, just hours after Monday night talks with French president Francois Hollande.

Cameron’s office said he was attempting to resolve the final differences between European Union member states before a summit of European leaders Thursday.

He has been holding talks across the continent since the beginning of this month, when European Council President Donald Tusk announced a draft deal that granted Britain the right to curb migrant flows by restricting welfare benefits.

Other issues, including clearer laws for non-Eurozone members were included in the draft deal.

Britain has been re-negotiating its EU membership terms since Cameron’s Conservative Party won election last May. If a final deal is agreed Thursday, it is expected to trigger a nationwide referendum on membership by the end of June.

But in a sign some countries were uncomfortable about the proposed deal, the Czech Republic’s Europe minister, Tomas Prouza, said any deal should not affect existing migrants in Britain.

He told BBC radio Tuesday: "The proposals are clear that the limits on in-work benefits would apply only to the newcomers as it's a very U.K.-specific solution so we need the very same guarantees also for the child benefits indexation that applies only to the newcomers and only those working in the U.K.

"It's important we don't do the changes retrospectively."