Key quotes from Cameron's Europe speech

(LONDON) - Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday confirmed he would seek to renegotiate Britain's relationship with the EU and put it to a referendum if his party wins the next election in 2015.

Here are some key quotes from his speech:

BRITAIN IS NOT RETREATING FROM EUROPE

- "For us, the European Union is a means to an end -- prosperity, stability, the anchor of freedom and democracy both within Europe and beyond her shores -- not an end in itself... But all of this doesn't make us somehow un-European."

- "I never want us to pull up the drawbridge and retreat from the world. I am not a British isolationist.

"But I do want a better deal for Britain. But not just a better deal for Britain -- I want a better deal for Europe too."

CURRENT SITUATION RISKS BRITISH EXIT

- Cameron said the EU was facing a crisis in the eurozone, a "crisis in European competitiveness" and a "lack of democratic accountability".

- "If we don't address these challenges, the danger is that Europe will fail and the British people will drift towards the exit.

"I do not want that to happen. I want the European Union to be a success. And I want a relationship between Britain and the EU that keeps us in it."

MANY IN EUROPE UNHAPPY WITH STATUS QUO

- "There is a growing frustration that the EU is seen as something that is done to people rather than acting on their behalf."

- "People are increasingly frustrated that decisions taken further and further away from them mean their living standards are slashed through enforced austerity or their taxes are used to bail out governments on the other side of the continent," he said, citing protests in Greece, Spain and Italy.

- "More of the same will just produce more of the same -- less competitiveness, less growth, fewer jobs. And that will make our countries weaker not stronger."

CAMERON'S VISION FOR A BETTER EUROPEAN UNION

- "Let's stop all this talk of a two-speed Europe... We are a family of democratic nations, all members of one European Union, whose essential foundation is the single market rather the single currency."

- The single market needs to be expanded into more sectors, and members must create "a leaner, less bureaucratic union, relentlessly focused on helping its member countries to compete".

- "Power must be able to flow back to member states, not just away from them... Let us not be misled by the fallacy that a deep and workable single market requires everything to be harmonised, to hanker after some unattainable and infinitely level playing field."

- "Nothing should be off the table."

- "Whatever new arrangements are enacted for the eurozone, they must work fairly for those inside and out."

REFERENDUM PLEDGE

- "Democratic consent for the EU in Britain is now wafer thin.

"Some people say that to point this out is irresponsible, creates uncertainty for business and puts a question mark over Britain's place in the European Union.

"But the question mark is already there and ignoring it won't make it go away."

- Cameron called for a new treaty to implement the changes he wants, but if there is no apetite for that, he will press ahead with changes for Britain.

- "The next Conservative manifesto in 2015 will ask for a mandate from the British people for a Conservative government to negotiate a new settlement with our European partners in the next parliament.

"It will be a relationship with the single market at its heart.

"And when we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice. To stay in the EU on these new terms; or come out altogether."

CAMPAIGN TO STAY IN A REFORMED EU

- "When the referendum comes, let me say now that if we can negotiate such an arrangement, I will campaign for it with all my heart and soul.

"Because I believe something very deeply. That Britain's national interest is best served in a flexible, adaptable and open European Union and that such a European Union is best with Britain in it.

"Over the coming weeks, months and years, I will not rest until this debate is won."

WARNINGS OVER BRITISH EXIT

- "There are some who suggest we could turn ourselves into Norway or Switzerland -- with access to the single market but outside the EU. But would that really be in our best interests?"

He warned Norway has to implement EU directives without debate, and the Swiss have to negotiate access to the single market sector by sector.

- "We would have to think carefully too about the impact on our influence at the top table of international affairs. There is no doubt that we are more powerful in Washington, in Beijing, in Delhi because we are a powerful player in the European Union.

- "If we left the European Union, it would be a one-way ticket, not a return."

URGES EUROPEAN PARTNERS TO SUPPORT HIM

- "It is hard to argue that the EU would not be greatly diminished by Britain's departure."

- "I say to our European partners, frustrated as some of them no doubt are by Britain's attitude: work with us on this."