Germany's Brok challenges Cameron

Brok, the German conservative who heads the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee, told German Deutschlandfunk (DLF) public radio on Saturday that Cameron was "digging himself into a pit" in seeking to emulate Britain's anti-EU opposition.

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) earlier this month won its second seat in the British parliament, threatening re-election chances for Cameron's Tories. Cameron has said he wants EU treaty ties "renegotiated" before a British membership referendum in 2017.

Brok told DLF that Cameron's speech on immigration - delivered in Staffordshire on Friday - contained threats to terminate EU principles, including freedom of movement for EU citizens to work elsewhere within the 28-nation bloc.

A hint from Cameron on Friday that he might campaign to leave the EU if its treaties were not rewritten amounted to "extortion politics," Brok said.

"I regard it as inconceivable that all 28 states would agree to the principle of free movement of workers being de facto eroded or juristically undermined, Brok said, adding that, "from Italy to Sweden," London would not find support.

Cameron's terms 'discriminatory'

Brok, whose Brok: Transitional implementation for EU-Ukraine agreementchairmanship includes a wide agenda on European affairs,# said Cameron had stated membership retention conditions that would be "simply discriminatory for EU citizens."

Instead, said Brok, Cameron should fully implement already "plentiful" EU rules aimed at preventing social welfare abuse only practiced by a "few" EU citizens."

"The great majority of EU citizens who work in other countries, want to work there, [and] are not bent on just getting social welfare."

"And against those who are only out to get social welfare are legal measures that only have to be converted into administrative actions," he said.

Brok said the European Court of Justice had laid out the rule "very clearly." Each citizen of an EU country was entitled to work anywhere else in the bloc, assuming that he or she had a job to go to or "enough income so that one does not depend of social institutions."

'Window dressing,' says Brok

Brok, who holds membership in both the European People's Party and the Christian Democrats of German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Cameron's utterances of recent weeks amounted to "window dressing for the home front."

"For him, it's about delivering yet more philippics against Europe, because he reckons that will be helpful for his electoral campaign early next year and therefore he doesn't want any solution."

Brok said Cameron was trying to become "more radical" than UKIP.

"Old experience shows that when one runs after the populist, one will not catch up with him, but instead only spur him on. Therefore he is digging himself into a pit, and whoever sits in a pit should stop digging. It is, I think, a tactical and strategic mistake that he is making."

Hammond denies back-tracking by Cameron

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond denied on Saturday that Cameron had "backed off" over bolder plans to cap migration from other EU nations after a warning from Chancellor Merkel.

Hammond told Britain's Radio 4: "I don't think that is right. What is right is that we have sought to work with our partners in the European Union to understand the best way of delivering a reduction in immigration numbers from the EU in to the UK," Hammond said.

Cameron in his speech on Friday had said he would prevent EU migrants from claiming benefits such as tax credits.

If implemented, Cameron's proposals would affect over 400,000 EU migrants, many of them working in Britain in low-paid jobs.

In Brussels, a European Commission spokesman said it was up to "national lawmakers to fight against abuses of the system and EU law allows for this."

Cameron had spoken to Merkel and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker before delivering his Staffordshire speech.