UK threatens eurozone, stays out of treaty

BRUSSELS - The Associated Press

Britain Prime Minister David Cameron gives a press conference after talks gathering European Union (EU) heads of State or government during an European Union summit at the EU headquarters, early on December 9, 2011 in Brussels. AFP Photo

Britain's prime minister is threatening that he may not allow a group of 23 European Union states that plan to set up their own treaty to use EU institutions.

David Cameron says "The institutions of the European Union belong to the European Union, belong to the 27" member states.

The 17 euro states and six other EU states early Friday agreed to create a new treaty that will allow them to introduce stricter fiscal rules in the hope of containing a worsening debt crisis.

They plan to rely on the European Commission and the European Court of Justice to enforce those rules.
Cameron said it was not in the U.K.'s interest to join the new treaty because he could not get special safeguards for the country's financial center.

"So we will not be presenting this new treaty, when it’s agreed, to our Parliament," Cameron spoke. "It will not involve Britain."