DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Jump-starting the European economy will require a shift in direction to address deficits that took time to develop, British Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Cameron suggested problems within the European Union hampered recovery. He said the economies of Brazil, China and India were "steaming ahead" while Europe was experiencing a "drag on growth," The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Reinvigorating the economy is "not going to be easy," Cameron said, explaining Europe "needed to change direction" because "huge deficits don't just fall out of the sky."

He said a single -- or common -- market in Europe and more rigorous stress tests to ensure banks' solvency would help achieve economic recovery.

"To get there isn't easy. We can't just flick on the switch of government spending or pump the bubble back up," Cameron said. "Making this transformation -- and it is a transformation -- requires painstaking work and it takes time."

Britain, for example, must "stick to the course" of spending cuts if it wants to emerge from the recession, Cameron said.

"This week we had disappointing growth estimates back home. Yes, they were partly driven by the terrible weather which shut down airports, factories and schools -- but let's be frank," the prime minister said. "They also brought home something we have said for months: Given the traumas of recent years, the recovery was always going to be choppy."

The British economy shrank 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, leading some analysts to suggest the country may not be prepared for cutbacks planned by the coalition government, The Daily Telegraph said.