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But on Monday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso lashed out at those who lecture the continent on how to get its economic house in order — the prime minister among them.

The tense standoff — which emerged in separate news conferences about an hour apart — occurred as leaders of the G20 nations began a two-day summit here dominated by the continuing economic crisis in Europe.

Harper is among world leaders urging his European counterparts to move swiftly on structural changes to contain the debt crisis but Barroso said the continent didn’t need tips on economic stewardship from anyone.

“Frankly, we are not coming here to receive lessons in terms of democracy and in terms of how to run an economy because the European Union has a model that we may be very proud of,” Barroso said.

“We are not complacent about the difficulties. We are extremely open. I wish that all our partners were so open about their own difficulties. We are extremely open and we are engaging our partners but we are certainly not coming here to receive lessons from nobody.”

Barroso was also prickly about Europe assuming the entirety of the blame for its debt troubles. When asked by a Canadian journalist why North Americans should “risk their assets to help Europe,” Barroso was quick to respond that “this crisis was not originated in Europe … the crisis originated in North America and much of our financial sector was contaminated by, how can I put it, unorthodox practices from some sectors of the financial market.”