British Prime Minister David Cameron has said he would veto a new European Union budget “if necessary”.
Mr Cameron said the EU should have two different budgets, with one for countries in the eurozone and one for those outside the single currency.
The EU is beginning negotiations on its next budget for 2014 to 2020.
In response to Mr Cameron’s comments, Minister for Jobs Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton told RTÉ that ahead of the budget talks, a certain amount of posturing was to be expected.
However, he said as Ireland prepares to take over the EU presidency, the main concerns are stability and growth in Europe.
“Britain has its own agenda to follow and I think before negotiations on the financial framework you can expect posturing," he said.
“You can expect countries to be taking positions and trying to gain negotiating advantage - but the job of the presidency is to come in and seek to deliver the big target which even David Cameron espouses.
“We need to get growth back into the European economy, we need to get stability into the European currency and we need a solid bank resolution strategy.”
