IN OR OUT: British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to offer citizens a vote on whether to leave the European Union if his party wins the next election, saying that the British public's disillusionment with the 27-nation EU is "at an all-time high."

BACKGROUND: The island nation has never been an enthusiastic member of the bloc, and many fear that new EU regulations to address the debt crisis will further restrict the country's control over its own economic policies.

REACTION: European leaders criticized Cameron, saying he was putting the EU's future at risk over domestic politics.