PM on whistle–stop pre–summit tour

Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday made a whistle-stop tour of European capitals in the hope of drumming up support for his opposition to rises in the European budget.

Following talks with Dutch PM Mark Rutte in The Hague, Mr Cameron’s official spokesman said the two men had seen “eye-to-eye” on the need for restraint in EU spending over the next seven-year budget period [2014-20].

But in Rome, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was less receptive to Mr Cameron’s call for a real-terms freeze in the EU budget, saying that the UK and Italian positions were “not perfectly coinciding” on the issue, which will dominate next week’s summit in Brussels.

Mr Cameron and Mr Monti did, however, find common ground on the need to make progress in completing the single market.