Cameron urges EU to 'take responsibility'
Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron tonight urged eurozone leaders to take responsibility for delivering a credible response to restore market confidence in the single currency.
After a six-hour summit in Brussels, he said progress was being made but more had to be achieved in the run-up to another crunch summit in the city on Wednesday, which he confirmed he would be attending.
“The eurozone countries must come together and take responsibility and produce a comprehensive and credible package which puts the success of the eurozone beyond doubt,” insisted Mr Cameron.
He acknowledged that this could mean closer fiscal and economic integration between the 17 single currency nations – but not at the expense of the UK national interest.
He said the crisis was having a “chilling effect” on all 27 EU economies, adding: “While the UK is not in the eurozone and has no intention of joining, it is in Britain’s interest to have a strong and healthy euro.”
Tonight’s summit conclusions refer to the prospect of another EU treaty change to deliver the kind of economic changes necessary to steady the eurozone - something Mr Cameron insisted could be turned to the UK’s advantage.
With one eye on tomorrow’s Commons vote in London on a possible EU membership referendum, he emphasised: “Any treaty change is an opportunity for Britain to advance our national interest.”
He explained that the last treaty change enabled Britain to agree in return for opting-out of any further bailouts for eurozone countries, having been required to take part after a deal reached in the final stages of the last Labour government.
Mr Cameron said: “The idea of another examination of the possibility of limited treaty change has always been floating around because the countries of the eurozone see a need to do that.”
If there were a treaty change, the Prime Minister continued, it would need unanimous agreement of the 27 leaders before going ahead, and would take years to implement, so “let’s not get ahead of ourselves”.
Meanwhile, it was crucial to safeguard the interests of “those countries that want to stay out of the euro but are part of the single market”.
He said there was a danger that as the eurozone countries worked together, they were tempted to leave the rest out of issues of mutual interest, involving key issues such as completing the financial services accords in the single market.
He added: “I think this crisis means that greater fiscal and economic integration is inevitable (in the eurozone) but that must not be at the expense of the UK national interest.”
