Cameron urges European leaders for bigger effort to tackle crisis

The British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged European leaders to take a "big bazooka" approach to resolving the eurozone crisis, warning they have just a matter of weeks to avert economic disaster. Cameron urged France and Germany to bury their differences and adopt by the year-end what he claims would be a decisive five-point plan to end the uncertainty, which was having a "chilling effect" on the world economy. Cameron’s comments came as Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, and France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy repeated their determination to defend the stability of the euro as they met for a bilateral summit in Berlin, although they refused to spell out the details. Sarkozy insisted that the eurozone’s two leading governments were pursuing a common course, and were ready to announce a comprehensive package before the summit of the G20 leading global economies in Cannes, France, at the beginning of November. Cameron’s interview with the Financial Times raises pressure on eurozone leaders to act, and presses Sarkozy to agree a plan of action for the recapitalisation of Europe’s banks. Separately, Cameron wants Germany and others to accept the "collective responsibility" of euro membership and to increase the firepower of the eurozone’s 440bn euro bail-out fund to stop financial contagion spreading from Greece. Although he refused to speculate on a Greek default some British ministers believe it is inevitable he said all uncertainty must be removed about the country’s economic future. He also called for the International Monetary Fund to be more active in "holding feet to the fire", confronting eurozone leaders in the starkest terms possible with the consequences of further prevarication.