EU must hand back powers to nation states if it is to reverse the tide of scepticism, admits European Parliament president Prime Minister David Cameron is planning to hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership if he is re-elected in 2015 Martin Schulz said he would help strip the EU of certain powers and return them to member states which Cameron also supports But the European Parliament also wants to make it stronger in other areas The EU must hand back powers to nation states if it is to reverse the tide of scepticism, the president of the European Parliament has said. European Parliament president Martin Schulz has said he would help strip the EU of certain powers and return them to member states which Prime Minister David Cameron also supports. But he also wants to make it stronger in other areas. Prime Minister David Cameron is planning to hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership if he is re-elected in 2015 which European Parliament president Martin Schulz says Britons will probably support Cameron is planning to hold a referendum on Britain's EU membership if he is re-elected in 2015. Schulz, a German Social Democrat, said if it does take place Britons would probably vote to stay in because of trading advantages it gives Britain and the inability of any one country to defend its interests along. Schulz did not divulge which powers would go back to the states or which should remain in EU control. But UK Independence Party (UKIP) wants Britain to quit the 28-nation bloc. 'My advice to all of us is not to underestimate the dissatification of a lot of people with... the form in which the EU is for the time being,' Schulz told Reuters. But the moment we improve it, and people see that we are committed to improving it, I think we will regain trust. Schulz is tipped to be made head of the executive European Commission which its president, Jose Manuel Barroso, steps down in October 2014. Opinion polls show a Britons would opt to leave the EU if they had the choice. Debate: Opinion polls show a Britons would opt to leave the EU if they had the choice Cameron has said he will hold an in/out referendum by the end of 2017 if re-elected. I was 11 years a mayor in Germany. What you can do locally, do it there,' he said. Britain insists on retaining full national control over its borders and has stayed out of the continental Schengen area of passport-free travel. When asked what would Britain be like if left to the EU, Schulz said: 'The UK will not be a member of the single market but 50 per cent of UK exports go to the EU market or even more. 'That means customs fees for British products, no free movement for British citizens in the Schengen area, the UK having no access to the EU's worldwide relationship in international trade. It means a lot of economic barriers for the British economy.