PARIS (AP) -- Britain is ready to help the eurozone solve its debt crisis, but Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday that he doesn't think changes to the EU treaty are needed.
Instead, Cameron said Europe needs to convince markets that it is doing all it can to dig out of the crisis and make changes to improve its competitiveness.
"Neither of those things actually require treaty change, but I'm very clear: If there is treaty change, then I will make sure that we further protect and enhance Britain's interests," Cameron said after meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris.
That could pit him against Germany and France, the biggest economies that use the euro, which are expected to push next week for tougher rules against government overspending to be written into the EU treaty.
Sarkozy did not speak after the meeting, but he has said that France and Germany will propose ways of "rethinking" about Europe's organization at next week's EU summit.
Cameron said Friday that the debt crisis is affecting Britain's economy and that the summit will have to convince the world that the countries that use the euro are willing to defend its currency "with everything they've got."
"When you look at the crisis in the eurozone, the real need is that the institutions of the eurozone get behind the currency to convince the markets they have the firepower to do that and the second fundamental thing is real competitiveness throughout the eurozone, so it works properly."
