Barack Obama wants UK to remain in EU

President Barack Obama during a BBC interview. He said the EU bolstered confidence in the transatlantic union. Picture: BBC

US president Barack Obama has issued a warning about the prospect of the UK losing influence if it leaves the European Union.

A referendum on whether to remain in the EU will be held by the end of 2017 under David Cameron’s plans to renegotiate the terms of the UK’s membership before putting that new deal to the public.

Mr Obama said the UK’s membership of the EU gives “much greater confidence” about the relationship between the United States and Europe.

In a BBC interview, the president said he wanted to make sure the UK continued to have the “influence” that came with membership of the EU.

He said: “Having the United Kingdom in the European Union gives us much greater confidence about the state of the transatlantic union and is part of the cornerstone of the institutions built after World War Two that has made the world safer and more prosperous.

“We want to make sure that the United Kingdom continues to have that influence.”

It is the latest sign of the importance Washington places on the UK staying in the EU, after comments made by Mr Obama at the G7 summit of world leaders in Germany in June.

As he met Mr Cameron for talks at that summit, the president said that “one of the great values of having the United Kingdom in the European Union is its leadership and strength on a whole host of global challenges, so we very much are looking forward to the United Kingdom staying part of the European Union because we think its influence is positive not just for Europe, but also for the world”.

The US president welcomed Mr Cameron’s commitment to continue meeting the Nato target of spending 2% on defence.

He said: “We don’t have a more important partner than Great Britain. For him to make that commitment when he has a budget agenda that is confined, a budget envelope that is confined, is significant.”

The US administration has previously expressed concerns about the UK’s commitment to military spending and had pressed for Mr Cameron to commit to the target.