Oral statement to Parliament

PM gives statement on the EU Council

Britain helped Europe take “the first vital steps” to bring its finances under control by preventing…

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government
The Rt Hon David Cameron

Britain helped Europe take “the first vital steps” to bring its finances under control by preventing a six per cent rise in the EU Budget, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

In a statement to the House of Commons following last week’s EU Council meeting in Brussels, Mr Cameron said that countries have had to change their financial plans because of the economic crisis so the EU must change its plans too.

Britain secured support from a number of other countries including Germany, France and Finland in a declaration calling for the rise in the EU budget to be limited to 2.9 per cent.

In his statement today, the Prime Minister also called for greater transparency on what the European Union spends its money on.

The PM said:

At this Council Britain helped Europe take the first vital steps in bringing its finances under control. We prevented a crazy 6 per cent rise in the EU Budget next year. We made sure that the budget reflects domestic spending cuts in all future years. And we protected the UK taxpayer from having to bail out Eurozone countries who get themselves into trouble. There is a long way to go. But we’ve made a strong start.

The Council also discussed the upcoming G20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea, and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico.

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Published 1 November 2010