
Pm reaction following eu talks in brussels
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News story PM REACTION FOLLOWING EU TALKS IN BRUSSELS The Prime Minister spoke at a press conference following the Informal Dinner of Heads of State or Government. This was published under
the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government Prime Minister David Cameron has spoken following overnight talks in Brussels amongst leaders of EU countries. He
spoke at a press conference following the Informal Dinner of Heads of State or Government. The Prime Minister said: > I said before coming to Brussels that if I couldn’t get adequate >
safeguards for Britain in a new European treaty, then I wouldn’t > agree to it. What is on offer isn’t in Britain’s interests, so > I didn’t agree to it. > > Let me explain
why this matters. Of course, we want the eurozone > countries to come together and to solve their problems. But we > should only allow that to happen inside the European Union
treaties > if there are proper protections for the single market and for other > key British interests. > > Without those safeguards, it is better not to have a treaty within a
> treaty, but to have those countries make their arrangements > separately. That is what is now going to happen. Britain’s > interests in the European Union - keeping markets
open, free trade, > selling our goods and services with rules over which we have a major > say - all those things are protected. They don’t change. But > this new round of
integration and special powers and surrenders of > sovereignty for European countries and others that want to join the > euro, they will be carried on outside the European Union
treaty. > > So we will not be presenting this new treaty, when it’s agreed, to > our Parliament. It will not involve Britain. Of course, while > there were always dangers
with agreeing a treaty within a treaty, > there are also risks with others going off and forming a separate > treaty; and we should acknowledge that. So we will insist that the >
EU institutions - the court, the Commission - that they work for all > 27 nations of the European Union. > > Indeed, those institutions are established by the Treaty, and that
> Treaty is still protected. Let me make a final point - the > decisions taken here tonight all flow from one thing: the fact that > there is a single currency in Europe - the
euro. Britain is out of > it, and will remain out of it. Other countries are in it and are > having to make radical changes, including giving up sovereignty, to > try and make it
work. > > The difference between the “ins” and the “outs” - those in > the euro and those out of the euro - has inevitably created some > tensions within the European Union.
Now there are arrangements in > the EU treaties to allow different countries to do different things, > but these have always been accompanied by adequate safeguards within > the
treaties. > > When we can’t be given those safeguards in the treaty, it is > better this is done by intergovernmental arrangements, outside the > treaty and outside the
institutions of the European Union. That is > what will happen, and that is what is in Britain’s national > interests. > > Those countries that sign this treaty, and the
agreements they have > made tonight, for coordinating their budgets and making sure there > is more surveillance of what they do and the fiscal integration that > they need, we wish
them well because we want the eurozone to sort > out its problems, to achieve that stability and growth that all of > Europe - Britain included - needs. > > We wish them well
in that regard and the agreements they have made > tonight, some of those may indeed help them to do that. But the > key question for Britain was: do you allow that to happen within
the > European Union treaties if you are not happy with the safeguards you > are given? I wasn’t prepared to agree that treaty, to take it to > my Parliament in that way, and that
is why I rejected signing this > treaty today. The right thing for Britain. A tough decision, but > the right one. SHARE THIS PAGE The following links open in a new tab * Share on
Facebook (opens in new tab) * Share on Twitter (opens in new tab) UPDATES TO THIS PAGE Published 9 December 2011