New British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday his government will support the eurozone’s efforts to control its debt crisis, but that he’s glad his country uses the pound, not the euro, as its currency.
On his first overseas trip since being elected, Cameron met French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a working dinner at the Elysee Palace in Paris.
Yesterday, Cameron traveled to Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
PHOTO: AFP
Sarkozy said he and Cameron spent most of the dinner discussing ways to reduce the budget deficits of European countries and to end the market speculation against the euro that has rattled the common currency in recent days.
“I think we were right to stay out of the euro,” in light of its current troubles, Cameron told reporters. “But let me be absolutely clear: It’s in Britain’s interest that the eurozone is a success.”
He said his government would honor Britain’s agreement to back eurozone finances, reached before his election earlier this month.
The French and German leaders could be wary of future relations with the new Conservative chief, who is far more skeptical about Britain’s European ties than his Labour Party predecessors, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, were.
Thursday’s meeting was Cameron’s first face-to-face talks with a foreign leader outside of Britain since he became prime minister. He met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at his country residence in southern England last weekend.
At a news conference in London on Thursday, Cameron insisted Britain would not support closer economic governance in Europe as a response to the debt crisis in Greece — which required a 110 billion euro (US$134.97 billion) three-year rescue loan package to stave off bankruptcy.
But he appeared to be more forthcoming in Paris later in the day, stating he supported German and French efforts to better regulate deficits.
“We think that actually addressing the budget deficits is not an alternative to economic growth. We think it’s an important part of getting that economic growth,” Cameron said. “It’s important that we address the causes of problems, and not just the symptoms.”
Cameron also said he agreed with US President Barack Obama’s plan to reform the banking system, which will be discussed at the Group of 20 summit in Canada next month.
Sarkozy said France and Germany would spearhead efforts to reform and toughen European financial governance, including an update of the eurozone stability pact to set more criteria on accountability, transparency and efficiency.
“We’re stronger united than on our own,” Sarkozy said. “That’s the political choice that made me back the euro since its creation.”
Sarkozy said “the euro is a success” because it’s become the second most important currency in the world in a short period. He said the US dollar also had gone through several speculative crisis in the past decade.
“Keep hold of your euro, if you’ve got any,” he told British journalists.
On other matters, Cameron and Sarkozy said they agreed about the war effort in Afghanistan and the need for tougher, more immediate sanctions against Iran, if the country continues to develop a suspected nuclear weapons program.
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