A top European official has called the UK's decision not to back tighter rules among European nations trying to fight a worsening debt crisis "unfortunate".
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told European lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, that he and most countries tried hard to reach an accord of all 27 EU states at a summit last week.
But he said the UK's request to exclude financial institutions in the City of London made an agreement "impossible".
Barroso also pleaded with British Prime Minister David Cameron not to block EU institutions from supporting the new treaty.
Barroso said "it is the European institutions that are the best guarantee that the interest of all European states, including the UK, will be fully respected".
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AP