Eurozone crisis: David Cameron sidelined in ‘fiscal compact’ talks

DAVID Cameron was sidelined as 25 European Union countries thrashed out a new “fiscal compact” at a summit in Brussels today.

The Prime Minister and Czech leader Václav Klaus were the only two EU members not to endorse an agreement designed to impose tough new financial rules including sanctions for countries breaching debt and deficit limits.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said afterwards: “In the eyes of the world, what is at stake is the very credibility of the euro area and of Europe as a whole: its ability to deliver sustainable fiscal consolidation, growth and employment.

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“The euro is not just a currency of some countries, the euro is the currency of the European Union.

“Through their formal commitment at the treaty level to increase discipline and convergence, the member states are showing that, from monetary union, we are now progressing towards a true economic union.”

Mr Barroso added: “Contrary to all the negative prophesies about the future of the euro, and even of the EU, this agreement, with its binding rules in terms of reinforced governance, signals the irreversibility of the euro and a very important step forward in European integration.”