EU leaders confident and determined in face of economic crisis

Published: 23 March 2009 y., Monday

Europos Sąjungos valstybių narių vėliavos
Leaders agreed to use €5bn in unspent EU funds to upgrade energy and internet connections. And they raised the ceiling on EU aid to countries having difficulties. The credit line – which covers countries not using the euro – was lifted to €50bn.

Leaders also pledged €75bn in additional support to the International Monetary Fund to help countries in trouble.

Wrapping up a two-day summit, the leaders issued a joint statement saying the bloc had made “good progress” in implementing the €200bn stimulus package adopted in December. Leaders expressed confidence the measures – which include tax cuts and bank bailouts – would revive the economy but said it would take time.

“If needed, we will have to review it in the future, but now we have to concentrate on implementation,” president Barroso said.

The 27-nation bloc is already spending some €400bn – about 3.3% of its gross domestic product – over two years to combat the worst economic crisis in decades. Besides stimulus measures, that figure includes increases in social spending as unemployment rises. The EU jobless rate was 7.6% in January, the highest in over two years.

Many EU leaders have voiced concern about racking up deficits with spend-now-pay-later policies. The leaders said EU countries should return as soon as possible to deficits “consistent with sustainable public finances”. A number of countries are in violation of bloc rules requiring budget deficits to stay below 3% of GDP.

Looking ahead to the G20 summit on 2 April, leaders spelled out a common position on how to improve regulation and oversight of the financial industry.

The €5bn includes funds to bury climate-changing carbon and to bring gas from the Caspian Sea region. Interest in a new pipeline has grown since the dispute between Moscow and Ukraine in January halted Russian gas flows to Eastern Europe.

Leaders also approved the development of closer ties with countries to the east. The Georgia-Russia war has pushed this issue up the agenda.

The Irish government updated EU leaders on its plans for a re-run of the Lisbon Treaty referendum.


 

Šaltinis: ec.europa.eu
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.

Facebook Comments

New comment


Captcha

Associated articles

The most popular articles

Nautilus buys Triton for $63 million

Nautilus Hyosung announced last week that it had been in talks with Triton and Dover for several months and expected the sale to close before the end of the year. more »

Motorola Invests in Amobee Media Systems

Motorola, Inc. through Motorola Ventures, its strategic venture capital arm, today announced that it has made an investment in Amobee Media Systems, a leader in advertising solutions for mobile operators. more »

Ukrainian bank buys more than 3,000 Wincor Nixdorf ATMs

PrivatBank, based in Ukraine, has further strengthened its self-service business with the purchase and installation of 3,100 Wincor Nixdorf ATMs for sites in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Cyprus and Latvia. more »

National Budget Revenue of the 1st Half-Year Was in Line with the Target

According to final data presented by the Ministry of Finance, national budget revenue of the 1st half-year of the current year amounted to LTL 11 billion 161.8 million, and that was by 1.1 % over the target. more »

WTO countries failed to find common positions on liberalisation of markets for agrculture and industrial goods

On 29 July, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas took part in the European Union’s General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting in Geneva. more »

Gross domestic product grew by 5.5 per cent in II quarter 2008

Statistics Lithuania informs that based on available statistical data and used econometric models, estimated GDP in II quarter 2008 totalled LTL 28393.3 million at current prices and, as compared to II quarter 2007, grew by 5.5 per cent more »

Study Finds Pervasive Networking Talent Shortfall in North America

Cisco, in collaboration with the Cisco Learning Institute, today announced the results of a study on networking labor needs in North America. more »

Credit card firms cash in on ATM withdrawals

Credit card firms are cashing in on customers who use their plastic to take out cash from an ATM, according to new analysis by MoneyExpert.com. more »

Wincor Nixdorf expects to hit '08 financial goals

Despite deterioration in the economy and general business climate, Wincor Nixdorf International says it expects to reach its financial goal of increasing year-to-year net sales by 8 percent and earnings before taxes and amortization by 10 percent. more »

The Ingenico Group recorded consolidated revenue of €186 million

The Ingenico Group recorded (unaudited) consolidated revenue of €186 million for the second quarter of 2008, an increase of 32% at current exchange rate and 35% at constant exchange rate. more »