Europe: Cameron joins EU budget freeze call

PRIME Minister David Cameron said yesterday he had joined forces with France and Germany to demand a real-terms freeze in the European Union budget until the end of the decade.

By The Newsroom

Published 17th Dec 2010, 21:59 BST

Updated 17th Dec 2010, 21:59 BST

The Prime Minister will today publish a joint text with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders setting out their demand for restraint in EU spending.

They will insist that the EU's budget should rise by no more than the rate of inflation over the period 2014-2020.

Speaking at a Press conference at the end of the European Council summit in Brussels, Mr Cameron said that the text would put down "a firm marker" of their determination not to allow the budget to swell.

The Prime Minister also said he had secured a "clear and unanimous agreement" that Britain would not be "dragged into bailing out the eurozone" as part of a new stability mechanism to be introduced in 2013.