British PM promises referendum on Europe

UK: Prime Minister David Cameron promised Wednesday to give British people a choice on EU membership, sparking immediate criticism from his main European partners.

In a long-awaited speech in London, Cameron vowed to hold a referendum by the end of 2017 giving voters a choice of staying in or leaving the European Union if his party wins the next election.

He said he wanted to renegotiate the terms of Britain's troubled membership of the EU before putting the new agreement to a vote.

But Britain's main European partners, France and Germany, warned it could not expect to operate by a different set of rules from the other 26 EU members.

Cameron said the referendum would offer Britain a "very simple choice" -- either to accept the outcome of the negotiations or to leave the EU altogether after four decades of membership.

"It is time for the British people to have their say," he said.

AFP