Europe

Europe

EU turns to headache for UK’s Cameron

09 December 2011 03:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. British Prime Minister David Cameron is under a massive pressure from his government colleagues, especially his own party members, to hold a referendum on Britain’s future in the EU, APA reports quoting Press TV.

Ahead of an EU summit, deemed to feature German and French proposals on Britain’s greater fiscal integration with the union, a group of five senior cabinet ministers were expected to meet with him to warn against giving grounds in favor of closer ties with the EU.

Conservative MPs in the Commons have also called on Cameron to adopt a "bulldog spirit" against an EU deal that could bring Britain into the Eurozone.

The critics fear that agreeing to such a deal during the December 8 EU summit in Brussels would spell the end for Britain as the Euro has no hope of recovery.

Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Paterson and London mayor Boris Johnson have also joined the anti-EU chorus with the former saying holding a referendum on the greater integration with the EU is "inevitable" if other members push Britain toward entering the single currency zone.

Paterson warned in an interview with the Spectator that the 17-member Eurozone is "a new and very powerful country which can dominate us" stressing it would be "wholly unacceptable to have a new bloc in which we would be permanently outvoted."

"If there was a major fundamental change in our relationship, emerging from the creation of a new bloc which would be effectively a new country from which we were excluded, then I think inevitably there would be huge pressure for a referendum," he added.

This comes as Boris Johnson also said it is "absolutely" necessary that people have a say in any greater integration.

"If there is a new EU treaty that creates a kind of fiscal union within the 27 countries or within the eurozone, we’d have absolutely no choice either to veto it but certainly to put it to a referendum," he added.

Cameron has tried to justify fiscal union with the EU saying the euro crisis would also extend to plague Britain if nothing is done.

He has also ruled out a referendum saying it would be an option only if London moves to transfer more powers to Brussels.