Spaans Voorzitterschap roept op tot Europese solidariteit en betrokkenheid bij vinden van oplossing voor problemen Griekenland (en)
Spain's Secretary of State for the European Union, Diego López Garrido. EFE
Spain's Secretary of State for the European Union, Diego López Garrido, speaking on the eve of the meeting of Heads of State and Government on 25 and 26 March in Brussels, called for the EU to make a "political commitment" to the stability of the euro area.
Garrido referred to the declaration on Greece adopted at the informal meeting on 11 February, in which European leaders pledged to take decisive and coordinated steps, if necessary, to preserve the stability of the euro area.
“That principle will be firmly in place at this meeting”, he said. “I am sure the European Council will guarantee this stability and will send a clear political message to strengthen the European economy and currency, thereby strengthening the principle of solidarity”.
López Garrido was appearing before the European Parliament to explain the preparatory work done in the lead-up to the Spring Council, which will have key agenda items that include the strategy for relaunching economic growth in Europe and the battle against climate change.
He said the Europe 2020 Strategy is part of the new way of tackling the complex economic circumstances of the 21st Century from a European approach. This new perspective has been clear since the start of the economic crisis, with the EU reacting in a coordinated way, injecting public funds, overhauling supervision of the financial system, coordinating economic policies and providing decisive support to the euro area.
The Council will study the European Commission's 3 March document on the 2020 Strategy from the viewpoint of strategic objectives relating to employment, R&D investment, energy and climate change, education and the eradication of poverty. It will also discuss the issue of governance.
In terms of climate change, the Spanish Secretary of State stressed that the EU must maintain its leadership role, without which even the paltry progress achieved at the Copenhagen summit last year would have been impossible, in order to ensure legally-binding commitments are made in Cancún.
The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durao Barroso, who spoke after Garrido, said the European Council must prove its ability to respond to immediate needs and to set long-term objectives.
Speaking about Greece, Barroso called upon European leaders' spirit of responsibility and solidarity, and backed the creation of an action instrument for coordinated loans, which would be deployed only if all other options are exhausted.