Thursday 17 May 2012

0 Cameron Takes Eurozone Demands To US Summit

David Cameron is set to step up his demands for action to tackle the eurozone crisis as he heads to the United States for a two-summit weekend with world leaders. 

The Prime Minister travels first to a gathering of G8 leaders at the US President's country retreat at Camp David before attending a Nato summit in Chicago.

Cameron and Hollande

The G8 talks will be dominated by the eurozone crisis and the threat posed to world economies, initernational currencies and markets by the financial collapse and political vacuum in Greece.

Before leaving Downing Street, Mr Cameron took part in a 45-minute video conference, described by Number 10 as "constructive", with the other European leaders attending the G8.

Taking part were German chancellor Angela Merkel, new French president Francois Hollande, Italian premier Mario Monti and EU Commission chiefs Manuel Barosso and Herman Van Rompuy.

"He discussed with the others their priorities for G8; the Eurozone - including Greece, growth, and the importance of expanding trade relations between the US and the EU," said a Downing Street spokesperson.

"On the eurozone, the Prime Minister emphasised the importance of Greece and the Eurozone taking decisive action to ensure financial stability and prevent contagion."

Mr Cameron was said to have repeated the stark warning he issued in a speech in Manchester earlier yesterday: "That there is a need for monetary action to stimulate growth; for structural reform to increase competitiveness in the EU; that the right governance arrangements had to be in place; and that countries throughout the Eurozone should take the necessary action to tackle unsustainable deficits."

In that speech, the Prime Minister said he would do "whatever it takes to keep Britain safe from the storm", but made clear that the UK would not be immune to the consequences of a euro collapse.(Google)

And he insisted he would not ditch the Coalition Government's deficit-reduction strategy in the face of demands from Labour for a shift in focus from austerity to growth.

Before leaving Camp David for the Nato summit in Chicago, Mr Cameron will hold his first one-to-one meeting with Mr Hollande - whom he snubbed when the Socialist presidential candidate visited London earlier this year - at the British ambassador's residence in Washington.

The Prime Minister will urge the new president to rethink his pledge to pull 3,400 French troops out of Afghanistan two years ahead of Nato's planned timetable of 2014.


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