Get in real world, PM tells Europe

Nov 23 2012

David Cameron has told Europe it must get in the "real world" as talks over a long-term budget settlement collapsed.

The Prime Minister said the offer on the table was "just not good enough", and hit out at eurocrats for failing to come up with even a "single euro" in savings.

Mr Cameron said he had come under concerted pressure to give up part of Britain's EU rebate, but insisted he had "successfully defended" it.

The summit was called to a halt after two days of talks failed to bridge deep divisions over spending priorities for the next seven years.

Mr Cameron said he was confident a deal could be done at a later date, but insisted it would not be "at any cost".

At a press conference in Brussels, Mr Cameron said the deal offered was unacceptable to a number of other countries, not just Britain.

"All of these countries are net contributors to the EU. In other words, like Britain, they write the cheques. Together, we had a very clear message - 'We are not going to be tough on budgets at home just to come here and sign up to big increases in European spending'."

Mr Cameron said it was not acceptable to "tinker around the edges" when spending needs to be cut.

He added: "But we still believe a deal is absolutely do-able. Freezing budget is not an extreme position."

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