David Cameron vows to 'quicken pace' of EU negotiations

Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to "quicken the pace" of his renegotiation of Britain's EU membership, announcing he will put details of his demands on the table at the start of November.

Mr Cameron's promise came amid growing signs of frustration in Brussels at the Prime Minister's failure to spell out exactly what changes he needs to secure in order to advocate continued membership at the in/out referendum promised by the end of 2017.

It came after European Parliament President Martin Schulz called for "clarity" from Britain and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told MEPs that "it takes two to tango" and "our British friends have to dance".

Mr Cameron held talks over lunch with Mr Juncker about the technical discussions which have been under way in Brussels since June, but which the Commission President said on Wednesday had so far not made "huge progress".

Speaking as he arrived for talks with Mr Schulz before a European Council summit, the PM insisted that renegotiation was "going well" and would speed up ahead of a later summit in December at which EU leaders are expected to discuss the demands in detail.

Mr Cameron said: "We will... be discussing the British referendum. That has now got under way and is going well. The Bill for our referendum has passed through the Commons, it is now in the House of Lords.

"The pace will now quicken and I'll be again setting out the four vital areas where we need change and laying down what those changes will be at the start of November.

"So we quicken the pace and quicken those negotiations in the run-up to the December Council.

"I'm confident we can get a good deal for Britain, we can fix those things that need to be fixed and I'm confident this process is well under way and making good progress."