Schulz: UK should be a 'fully-fledged' EU member

The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, has told HARDtalk that he wanted the United Kingdom to be a "fully-fledged member of the European Union, not a part-time member."

He was responding to a question regarding the UK prime minister's promise to hold a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU by the end of 2017, if the Conservative party wins a majority at the next general election.

Mr Schulz said he was willing to discuss Mr Cameron's proposals for EU reform, adding that if they improved the effectiveness of the EU he would be in favour of them.

You can watch the full interview on BBC World News on Wednesday 4 December at 16:30 and 21:30 GMT and on the BBC News Channel at 00:30 on Thursday 5 December.

Watch more clips at HARDtalk's website