David Cameron has faced the toughest test of his premiership at a dinner in Brussels where it is hoped that a Eurozone debt crisis plan will be decided with EU leaders.
Cameron locked horns with Sarkozy in a 45 minutes pre-dinner meeting with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, shortly before the dinner for the EU's 27 leaders, according to The Guardian.
The German chancellor had earlier said that the European currency has "lost credibility", the BBC reports.
The BBC also reports that there remains significant disagreement between the leaders, who seek to find a solution to the crisis during the two day summit.
Earlier in the day, Edward Leigh, the established rightwing Tory, compared Cameron to Neville Chamberlain who contentedly returned to the UK having met with Adolf Hitler in Munich in 1938, confident he had reached an agreement to avoid war.
Cameron will face as tough a test from his fellow Tories, as he will from the determined Sarkozy and Merkel who seek to hold together the now fragile union.