David Cameron has outlined his goals for reforming the UK's membership of the EU, saying they will be difficult, but not impossible, to achieve.
He said Britain faced the biggest decision of "our lifetimes" in an in/out referendum promised before the end of 2017.
But he was confident of getting the reforms he wanted, describing talks with EU partners "mission possible".
EU leave campaigners have described the talks as a "gimmick".
Mr Cameron has formally set out his demands in a letter to the president of the European Council, which has now been published.
He said four objectives lie at the heart of the UK's renegotiations:
Protection of the single market for Britain and other non-euro countries
Boosting competitiveness by setting a target for the reduction of the "burden" of red tape
Exempting Britain from "ever-closer union" and bolstering national parliaments
Restricting EU migrants' access to in-work benefits such as tax credits
Mr Cameron hit back at claims by former Tory chancellor Lord Lawson that the four goals were "disappointingly unambitious", saying they reflected what the British people wanted and would be "good for Britain and good for the European Union".
"It is mission possible and it is going to take a lot of hard work to get there," said the prime minister.
The toughest task he is likely to face is persuading other EU leaders to accept restrictions on in-work benefits for new arrivals to the UK, which Mr Cameron said was vital to cut "very high" and "unsustainable" levels of immigration.
He said: "I understand how difficult some of these welfare issues are for some member states, and I'm open to different ways of dealing with this issue.
"But we do need to secure arrangements that deliver on objectives set out in the Conservative manifesto to control migration from the European Union."
Mr Cameron claimed 40% of recent European Economic Area migrants received an average of around £6,000 a year of in-work benefits.
He has said he wants the UK to stay in a reformed EU, but he has not ruled out recommending leaving if he cannot secure the change he wants with the leaders of the other 27 EU countries.
He ruled out a second referendum if Britain voted to leave, saying: "You the British people will decide. At that moment you will hold this country's destiny in your hands. This is a huge decision for our country - perhaps the biggest we will make in our lifetimes. And it will be a final decision."
David Cameron's letter to Donald Tusk reprises many of the points he made in his speech, and does not include any new demands.
It says the UK will not stand in the way of further eurozone integration but calls for safeguards to protect British business from discrimination and a formal recognition that the EU has more than one currency.
It says: "Our concerns really boil down to one word: flexibility."
On immigration, the letter calls for a "crackdown on the abuse of free movement", including longer re-entry bans for fraudsters and those who engage in "sham marriages" - and stronger powers to deport criminals.
People coming to the UK "must live here and contribute for four years before they qualify for in-work benefits or social housing", writes Mr Cameron.
The PM says he hopes the letter will "provide a clear basis" for reaching a "legally-binding and irreversible" agreement and "where necessary have force in treaties".
If an agreement can be reached on his four demands, Mr Cameron tells Mr Tusk: "I am ready to campaign with all my heart and soul to keep Britain inside a reformed European Union."
In his speech, Mr Cameron said: "When you look at the challenges facing European leaders today, the changes that Britain is seeking do not fall in the box marked 'impossible'.
"They are eminently resolvable, with the requisite political will and political imagination."
Alongside publication of the PM's letter, Chancellor George Osborne will meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels as part of the renewed diplomatic push for EU reform.
The Vote Leave campaign said Mr Cameron's negotiating demands were likely to be "trivial" and that the only way for the UK to regain control of its borders and democracy was by leaving the EU.
Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell, meanwhile, has dismissed the PM's position on the EU as "a lot of bluff and bluster" and more about "appeasing" some of his Eurosceptic backbenchers.
He told the BBC that Labour's position was that Britain should stay in the EU and "negotiate our reform agenda as members of the club".
UKIP Leader Nigel Farage said it was clear Mr Cameron "is not aiming for any substantial renegotiation", with "no promise to regain the supremacy of Parliament, nothing on ending the free movement of people and no attempt to reduce Britain's massive contribution to the EU budget".
But Will Straw, director of Britain Stronger in Europe, said: "Today the prime minister has set out a series of sensible and sound reforms to improve Britain's relationship with Europe. It is now clear that Leave campaigners are losing the argument."
Mr Cameron's speech comes after he told the CBI conference on Monday he had no "emotional attachment" that would stop him backing a UK exit if his EU renegotiation failed.
BBC
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