TREATY CHANGE:BRITISH PRIME minister David Cameron has pledged to "protect and enhance" his country's position in any talks on a new EU treaty, but said more immediate measures should be taken to save the euro.
Speaking after a meeting with French president Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris yesterday, Mr Cameron struck a cautious note on treaty change. He said the euro zone needed its institutions to “get behind the currency” to convince markets it had the required firepower, and that the single currency area was competitive.
“Neither of those things require treaty change, but if there is treaty change I will make sure that we further protect and enhance Britain’s interests,” he said.
Facing pressure from eurosceptic members of his Conservative party, Mr Cameron has signalled he may try to use any treaty renegotiation to win back some powers from Brussels.
But he said yesterday the priority was to resolve the crisis, and to do this would give a big boost to the British economy.
Intensive talks are continuing between France and Germany as they work to finalise joint proposals on the debt crisis in time for a crucial euro zone summit on December 9th. In a major speech on Thursday, Mr Sarkozy said Paris and Berlin were working on treaty change proposals and envisaged a tougher regime of budgetary discipline.
“We discussed the crisis in the euro zone, which is having a chilling effect on the British economy, and the need for a successful outcome to the European summit next week,” Mr Cameron said.
In his speech in Toulon on Thursday, Mr Sarkozy made no reference to Britain, but talked up the primacy of the Franco-German relationship. “Europe will have to make crucial choices in the weeks to come,” he said. “Europe is not a choice, it is a necessity, but it needs to be rethought, refounded.
“France is fighting with Germany for a new treaty. More discipline, more solidarity, more responsibility . . . true economic government.” This would have to include “common examination” of national budgets and “faster, more automatic, more severe” sanctions for countries that did not respect their commitments. All euro zone states must enshrine the aim of balanced budgets in law, he said.
Seeking to assuage French concerns over losing more sovereignty to Brussels, Mr Sarkozy stressed national governments would have the lead role in a reshaped EU. “It’s by way of inter-governmentalism that European integration will come,” he said.
“Europe needs more democracy, because Europe is a project that cannot succeed without the people. A more democratic Europe is one where political leaders decide.”
He stressed that reforming Europe “was not a step towards supranationality” and reassured the French people that more Europe meant “more sovereignty, not less, because it increases our capacity to act”.
Mr Sarkozy said the EU was facing the greatest crisis of its existence, and that its survival was threatened. “We are not hiding it. Europe could be swept away by the crisis if it does not get a grip, if it does not change,” he said.
With diplomatic activity intensifying in the build-up to next week’s euro zone summit, German chancellor Angela Merkel is due in Paris on Monday, while US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner will meet Mr Sarkozy on Wednesday.