EU cites progress in UK talks

The EU Commission said on Monday that it had made some limited progress in reforms that would keep London in the 28-nation bloc.

European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a regular news briefing that while there was progress at political and technical level, nothing was agreed until everything was agreed.

"We are not there yet, discussions continue, today at sherpa level involving the Council, the Commission and UK sherpas. The timing is in the hands of President Tusk and Prime Minister Cameron," Schinas has been quoted as saying by Reuters.

"It is not enough for the Commission and Council lawyers to agree," he said. "This is a process that is run at 28 (EU countries) and the Commission works for all 28 member states of the union."

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has already emphasized that he will campaign for the UK to leave the EU if his demands for reforms to EU laws are not fulfilled.

Among the most controversial of his demands is stronger powers to curb immigration, including barring EU immigrants from in-work benefits for at least their first four years in Britain - what some EU officials have come to call a "welfare brake".

Cameron hopes to reach a reform deal at a summit next month, with a view to holding the referendum as early as possible.

London's bid to transform its membership of the EU has sparked turmoil, coming as the 28-nation alliance struggles with the biggest influx of migrants since World War II and the fallout from the eurozone debt crisis.

"There is more hard work to be done," Cameron's spokesman told reporters in London. "We are making progress but there's more work to do in all four areas -- more work in some areas than others."

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