LEAD: Cameron defends EU veto as Liberal leader dodges debate

Dec 12, 2011, 17:33 GMT

London - Prime Minister David Cameron Monday defended his controversial veto of a new European Union (EU) treaty, amid growing signs of tensions over the issue with his Liberal coalition partner.

Nick Clegg, the pro-European Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister, Monday stayed away from a crucial parliamentary debate on the controversial stance taken by Cameron at a Brussels last week.

According to the BBC, Clegg, a former member of the European Parliament (MEP), stayed away from the debate because he believed his presence would have been a 'distraction.'

His absence was taken as a clear snub to Cameron, who told the House of Commons that his refusal to back a new EU treaty aimed at stabilizing the eurozone was the 'the right decision for Britain.'

Cameron told parliament he had 'responded in good faith' to German and French proposals on treaty alterations to be made at the level of all 27 EU members, but his request for safeguards for Britain had been rebuffed.

As a result, the 17 members of the eurozone went ahead with the forging of a new treaty, gaining the support of nine non-eurozone members and leaving Britain isolated.

Clegg Sunday said he was 'bitterly disappointed' by the stance taken by Cameron.

Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour Party opposition, accused Cameron of 'letting the country down' at the Brussels summit. 'We shall rue the day this prime minister left Britain alone, without allies, without influence,' said Miliband.

Cameron blocked the move, as his request for certain exemptions for Britain - in particular to safeguard its financial services industry - were not heeded.

Meanwhile in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy Monday hailed the 'dawn of another Europe' and suggested that the legal content of the new intergovernmental treaty would be worked out 'in the next 15 days' and a final draft would be presented in March.

'We must see that another Europe is being born: one of the eurozone, where the key words will be convergence of economies, of budgetary rules and of taxation,' Sarkozy said.

Cameron's decision to veto the new 'fiscal compact' was sharply criticized by Clegg Sunday, who said he was 'bitterly disappointed' by the outcome of the summit talks.

Clegg said he had told Cameron that the deal was 'bad for Britain' and those who supported it were 'spectacularly misguided.'

Refusing to cooperate in Brussels did not leave Britain 'standing tall in Europe,' but rather 'retreating further to the margins,' Clegg warned in a TV interview Sunday.

Cameron also came under fire from Alex Salmond, the Scottish Nationalist leader of the regional government of Scotland, who said the British prime minister had been 'blundering into apparently changing the UK's entire relationship with the European Union.'

The deal gives the European Commission more powers of oversight and sanction over national budgets, leading to concern in some countries, including France, about a loss of national sovereignty.

However, Cameron insisted Monday that Britain would remain a 'vital force' in the EU of 27 member states, and said that no new treaty could override existing treaties and EU institutions.

While speakers of the opposition Labour Party accused Cameron of 'betraying' British interests, eurosceptic Conservatives applauded his stance, which they said had made Britain 'much stronger.'

Opinion polls in Britain showed that Cameron's unprecedented decision to use a veto appears to be backed overwhelmingly by voters.

At the Brussels summit, EU leaders agreed to bring forward the establishment of the rescue fund to July 2012, while also increasing the capacity of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to assist ailing eurozone economies.

EU central banks have agreed to loan the IMF up to 200 billion euros (267 billion dollars).

Read more about EU