John
06-17-2010, 04:56 PM
"You'll see Britain playing a very positive, a very engaged, very active role in the European Union," Cameron told a joint news conference with EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso.
"We will of course always defend our national interests, as others do, and our national red lines," he swiftly stressed.
The Conservative leader said it was in Britain's interest that there was a stable, successful eurozone but made it clear that he was not about to join the club.
"We are not a member of the euro nor are we going to become a member of the euro, but a strong, successful eurozone is vital to Britain's national interests," he underlined.
By meeting Barroso at the commission's headquarters, the Berlaymont, in Brussels' European quarter, Cameron became the first Conservative prime minister to do so.
Certainly his fiercely eurosceptic predecessor Margaret Thatcher, who returned to Downing Street to see Cameron, never crossed the EU Commission threshold.
Barroso welcomed Cameron with a traditional English breakfast of bacon and eggs, though served a little European twist, chanterelle mushrooms.
"That's not the usual breakfast fare in the European Commission," the official added.
After breakfast Barroso praised the efforts of the new coalition government to tackle its economic woes.
"They are taking exactly the right medicine for the situation," he told assembled journalists in the EU Commission building as the other European leaders gathered across the road at the EU Council headquarters.
Both men rejected a French idea of introducing "economic government" for the eurozone, concentrating instead on the need to foster growth through confidence in fiscal policies.
"Our citizens want us to concentrate on substance not on more discussions about institutions or processes," Barroso told reporters.
Cameron said such statements were "music to my ears," underlining that "we should be focusing on the issues of substance and not of institutional reform."
The premier also said he "very much" admired the approach of former Portuguese prime minister Barroso, backing him on "the importance of getting our public finances in order, that there can be no growth without confidence."
The feeling was clearly mutual: "I am delighted to welcome David Cameron to the Commission," Barroso said.
"I wish him all the best and for Britain as well. I look forward to working with him in the coming years," he added, underlining Britain's "crucial role" in Europe and "positive agenda for reform."
France had been calling for a kind of economic government for the 16-nation eurozone to increase fiscal coordination and effectiveness.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy reluctantly renounced his initiative on Monday in the face of opposition also from Germany which fears creating a two-speed Europe.
Cameron upset Britain's EU partners when, as opposition leader before assuming power, he pulled the Conservatives out of the European People's Party, the mainstream centre-right grouping in Europe.
The Conservatives then went on to help form a new anti-federalist bloc in the European Parliament.
The PM is also opposed to initiatives to impose penalties on fiscal laggards, to introduce a bank levy which would become a common European piggy bank and to show Brussels his governments budget plans before they are presented to the national parliament.
Cameron said Britain backed a strong EU trade policy and sought EU cooperation in areas such as a new sanction package against Iran, something which the 27 heads of state and government did later in the day.
"We will of course always defend our national interests, as others do, and our national red lines," he swiftly stressed.
The Conservative leader said it was in Britain's interest that there was a stable, successful eurozone but made it clear that he was not about to join the club.
"We are not a member of the euro nor are we going to become a member of the euro, but a strong, successful eurozone is vital to Britain's national interests," he underlined.
By meeting Barroso at the commission's headquarters, the Berlaymont, in Brussels' European quarter, Cameron became the first Conservative prime minister to do so.
Certainly his fiercely eurosceptic predecessor Margaret Thatcher, who returned to Downing Street to see Cameron, never crossed the EU Commission threshold.
Barroso welcomed Cameron with a traditional English breakfast of bacon and eggs, though served a little European twist, chanterelle mushrooms.
"That's not the usual breakfast fare in the European Commission," the official added.
After breakfast Barroso praised the efforts of the new coalition government to tackle its economic woes.
"They are taking exactly the right medicine for the situation," he told assembled journalists in the EU Commission building as the other European leaders gathered across the road at the EU Council headquarters.
Both men rejected a French idea of introducing "economic government" for the eurozone, concentrating instead on the need to foster growth through confidence in fiscal policies.
"Our citizens want us to concentrate on substance not on more discussions about institutions or processes," Barroso told reporters.
Cameron said such statements were "music to my ears," underlining that "we should be focusing on the issues of substance and not of institutional reform."
The premier also said he "very much" admired the approach of former Portuguese prime minister Barroso, backing him on "the importance of getting our public finances in order, that there can be no growth without confidence."
The feeling was clearly mutual: "I am delighted to welcome David Cameron to the Commission," Barroso said.
"I wish him all the best and for Britain as well. I look forward to working with him in the coming years," he added, underlining Britain's "crucial role" in Europe and "positive agenda for reform."
France had been calling for a kind of economic government for the 16-nation eurozone to increase fiscal coordination and effectiveness.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy reluctantly renounced his initiative on Monday in the face of opposition also from Germany which fears creating a two-speed Europe.
Cameron upset Britain's EU partners when, as opposition leader before assuming power, he pulled the Conservatives out of the European People's Party, the mainstream centre-right grouping in Europe.
The Conservatives then went on to help form a new anti-federalist bloc in the European Parliament.
The PM is also opposed to initiatives to impose penalties on fiscal laggards, to introduce a bank levy which would become a common European piggy bank and to show Brussels his governments budget plans before they are presented to the national parliament.
Cameron said Britain backed a strong EU trade policy and sought EU cooperation in areas such as a new sanction package against Iran, something which the 27 heads of state and government did later in the day.