British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged on Wednesday to hold a referendum before the end of 2017 on his country’s membership of the EU.
He said he wanted Britain to stay at the heart of the EU, but wants to re-negotiate what he sees as “restrictive EU rules for his country.”
Political commentators in the UK have argued the move is aimed at stemming the rise of the UK Independence Party in the opinion polls, which could steal Conservative votes at the next election.
Euronews’ Fariba Mavaddat asked UKIP leader Nigel Farage what he made of Cameron’s long-awaited Europe speech.
“What Mr Cameron has really done is to kick the can down the road for five years,” Farage told euronews.
“If he wins the election and after he has a negotiation with the European Union, we might in five years time get a vote. Frankly, that isn’t good enough.”
Our correspondent also spoke to Richard Corbett, special advisor to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, about what risks the UK would face if it quit the EU.
Click on the video above to see her report about what a potential ‘Brexit’ could mean for Britain and its ties with Brussels.