Cameron outlines list of demands to avoid EU 'Brexit'

LONDON, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday revealed his goals for reforming the country's membership in the European Union ahead of a referendum threatening an exit from the bloc.

In an hourlong speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs' Chatham House in London, Cameron said he was confident of achieving his reform goals, but said talks with EU partners would be difficult.

"It is mission possible and it is going to take a lot of hard work to get there," Cameron said.

He revealed several of the main objectives he will formally detail in a letter sent to European Council President Donald Tusk.

Cameron's objectives:

-- Protect single markets, such as Britain's pound and other countries that do not use the euro, against economic discrimination by countries that use the euro.

-- Increase competitiveness by setting a target for the reduction of bureaucratic red tape, which Cameron described as a "burden."

-- Exempt Britain's commitment to pursue an "ever closer union" that seeks to further consolidate the 28-member bloc -- a pledge written in the EU treaty that British conservatives see as a threat to national sovereignty.

-- Empower the decision making of national parliaments in the EU.

-- Allow Britain to restrict welfare entitlements for migrants arriving from the EU to Britain, as well as restricting tax benefits for low-income workers.

This last is expected to be the most difficult of the objectives.

About 40 percent -- or 224,000 -- of EU migrants who arrived in Britain in the past four years receive welfare entitlements -- 66 percent of which also receive tax credits.

"I understand how difficult some of these welfare issues are for some member states, and I'm open to different ways of dealing with this issue," Cameron said. "But we do need to secure arrangements that deliver on objectives set out in the Conservative manifesto to control migration from the European Union."

The referendum in which British citizens will decide if they wish their country remain in the EU will take place by the end of 2017. The British exit from the EU has been dubbed the "Brexit."

"You, the British people will decide," Cameron said. "At that moment you will hold this country's destiny in your hands. This is a huge decision for our country -- perhaps the biggest we will make in our lifetimes. And it will be a final decision."