MOSCOW (Sputnik) — UK Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to hold a referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union as part of his party’s campaign during the general elections in May 2015.
1/2 The EU isn't perfect — & I'd prefer Scotland to be an independent member state — but I believe it's in our best interests to stay in…
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) 20 февраля 2016
Ahead of the vote, Cameron sought to revise the terms of his country's membership of the bloc, focusing on four main issues — shifting power away from EU authorities back to the UK national legislature, exempting Britain from the EU "superstate" principle, stripping the euro as the single official EU currency, and protecting the British economy by keeping eurozone members away from non-eurozone countries’ affairs.
On February 18-19, EU leaders met in Brussels to discuss Britain's future in the bloc, reaching an agreement on the country's EU reform proposals. After Friday's agreement, Cameron said he would campaign for Britain to stay in the bloc as the new deal guaranteed a special status for the United Kingdom within the European Union and delivered on the reform commitments he had made. The referendum to decide on the country's future in the European Union is set to take place on June 23.
In October 2015, Sturgeon said that her party would insist on a second referendum on independence should the United Kingdom leave the European Union.
