EU-President Van Rompuy wil discussie over de economie voortzetten (en)

EUROPEAN COUNCIL THE PRESIDENT

Brussels, 12 September 2011

EUCO 72/11 PRESSE 308 PR PCE 45

Statement by Herman Van Rompuy i President of the European Council following his meeting with Donald Tusk i Prime Minister of Poland

I am very glad to meet today Prime Minister Tusk in the framework of the ongoing Polish Presidency of the Council. Of course we discussed economic issues that are still dominating the debate.

Let me first congratulate you and the Polish Presidency for working towards the finalisation of the legislative package on economic governance reform, the so-called 6-pact.

We are facing difficult times, and these new set of rules and procedures, which have been discussed in the Task Force last year, and then transferred into legislation, represent a very important step forward to strengthen macro-economic surveillance and fiscal discipline.

We had an exchange of views on the most recent economic developments in the euro area and the EU. Economic growth is moderating in Europe and other developed countries, and we are facing headwinds. However, economic growth will remain positive.

I informed Prime Minister Tusk about the state of play with the implementation of the July 21 package, and underlined the strong commitment of all euro area Heads of State or Government to implement it as a matter of absolute priority.

The measures announced by the Greek finance Minister yesterday are positive, and I look forward to the outcome of the discussions that are starting today with the troika.

We had also an exchange of views on the overall governance of the euro area. For countries sharing the same currency, coordinating more closely and being submitted to a

Dirk De Backer - Spokesperson of the President - 8 +32 (0)2 281 9768 - +32 (0)497 59 99 19 Jesus Carmona - Deputy Spokesperson of the President - 8 +32 (0)2 281 9548 / 5150 - +32 (0)475 65 32 15 press.president@consilium.europa.eu http://www.consilium.europa.eu/

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stricter collective discipline is legitimate, but preserving the coherence of the whole EU is also essential.

This is why I welcome the support and commitment of Prime Minister Tusk in the ongoing reflections and we agreed to remain in close contact on the developments in the euro area.

In October we will continue our economic discussion at the European Council. The agenda will focus on the external aspects of the Union's economic policy. The focus will be on how to enhance Europe's competitiveness in the world. We will also have to set orientations on other aspects of economic policy, particularly as regards growth enhancing areas. I asked the European Commission to prepare a paper on this issue.

Furthermore, the European Council will set the European Union's position for the G20 summit to take place in Cannes on the beginning of November and will finalise the European Union's position for the Durban conference on climate change of the beginning of December.

Finally, we discussed the importance of regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations.

In this context, I look forward to the Eastern Partnership Summit hosted by Prime Minister Tusk in Warsaw at the end of this month. It will be an excellent opportunity to confirm the importance of the EU's relations with its eastern neighbours, and to inject momentum for our future cooperation.

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