Cameron hopeful of EU deal by February

Talks on Britain’s EU membership negotiation are “hard work” but a deal could be secured by next month, David Cameron has said.

The U.K. Prime Minister said there was a “huge prize” waiting for Britain if his long-held pledge to reform the European Union was successful.

“What I’d like to see is a deal in February and a referendum that would follow but, you know, you’re dealing with complex negotiations,” he said in a BBC television interview on Sunday morning.

“I think some people think it’s the migration issue that’s the most difficult and the others are easy. Certainly migration is difficult but the other areas are not simple or straightforward either,” he added.

In addition to migration controls, Cameron wants the 28-member bloc to generate new rules for the euro to ensure member states outside use the single currency do not suffer discrimination. He has also called for more say for national parliaments in EU affairs and increased European competitiveness in the world.

“We join Europe for trade and cooperation and working together,” Cameron said. “We do not want to bury ourselves in some sort of European super state and that is why already Britain is not in the single currency, we’re not in the Schengen no borders system, we’ll never sign up to a European army. These things are important for people to know.

“There is a very strong patriotic case for engagement on the continent of Europe from a British perspective.”

Under a law passed last year, Britain must hold an in-out referendum on its EU membership by the end of 2017.

If a deal is reached with European leaders next month, the ballot could be held as early as June, although Cameron did not directly answer a question on the referendum’s timing.

He said he wanted “the best of both worlds for Britain, a massive prize of sorting out what frustrates us about Europe but staying in a reformed Europe, and the prize is closer than it was and I’m going to work around the clock to get that done”.