The forthcoming EU summit is crucial for the eurozone in which leaders are expected to “take concrete decisions to achieve the required level of confidence in the European Monetary Union”, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said yesterday.
Malta is doing better than most other European countries- Barroso
Addressing journalists following a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Mr Barroso said it was important for EU leaders to support initiatives the Commission was taking to achieve stability.
He mentioned, among others, the European Stability Mechanism and tomorrow’s first meeting of the governors overseeing this mechanism.
“We are equipping the European Monetary Union with the necessary instruments to sustain the single currency. I hope this momentum is not lost. Governments in Europe cannot lose focus and they must reinforce integration in the EMU which is critical for growth in Europe.”
He said the European Commission would present a blueprint for closer European economic union, a banking union and single supervision of the banking sector.
Turning to the European Budget covering seven years after 2014, Mr Barroso said this was “the most important instrument for investment at the European level”. He said he hoped leaders would support this budget “for growth in Europe”.
He praised Malta for “doing better than most other European countries”, adding that it had progressed in terms of the excessive deficit. He said it had undertaken lots of reforms and stressed that it was important to keep these up.
“We cannot relax and we have to continue reforms. This is how we can sustain our social market economy, in a more challenging global environment. It is only if we reinforce our competitiveness that we achieve long term stability for our economies,” he said.
Dr Gonzi thanked Mr Barroso for attending the 5+5 Summit which was held in Malta over the past two days, saying this showed the EU’s commitment towards strengthening the EU’s relations with Arab states.
Regarding the EU summit, he said this was “an important moment” for the EU to “look to the future with optimism”.