Nick Clegg urges Britain to play full part in Europe

Published on Thursday 7 July 2011 17:53

DEPUTY Prime Minister Nick Clegg will attempt to take the initiative from the eurosceptics on Britain's place in the European Union.

In a keynote speech in Paris today, Mr Clegg is also due to attack government colleagues who are pressing for the UK not to take part in the bailouts of troubled European economies.

With the UK managing to keep out of the EU bailout of Greece and suggestions that Portugal may need further help, Mr Clegg will claim that Britain needs to play its part.

He will say: "Countries like the UK should not see ourselves as spectators, watching from the wings, triumphalist, complacent, as if Europe's economic woes are a Eurozone problem, rather than a problem for all of us.

"As if it is enough to put your own house in order, but then stand by and let the neighbourhood crumble."

The Deputy Prime Minister will claim there is "no room for schadenfreude" over the economic woes that have hit eurozone countries because "we may have different coins in our pockets, but our fates are intertwined".

He will call for all states to "do more together" to ensure all of Europe's banks are "properly capitalised and able to withstand future shocks".

Mr Clegg is holding talks with French prime minister Francois Fillon and finance minister Francois Baroin over the debt crisis, European economic reform and military cooperation.

Mr Clegg will also give a speech to leading business figures and diplomats at the Mouvement des Entreprises de France setting out the need for widespread economic reform. "We are clear - a successful eurozone is essential for a prosperous UK," he will say.

Mr Clegg predicts the future of the eurozone lies "somewhere in between" warnings of a complete collapse or complete fiscal union.

He will urge all European governments to work to deliver "prosperity that really lasts" through sound fiscal policy, a resilient financial sector and meaningful structural reform and will also reiterate the UK's opposition to hikes in the EU budget.