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09 February 2011

MEPs questioned President Herman Van Rompuy on the outcome of EU summit


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On the economy, Van Rompuy said that "the outlook of the European economy has substantially improved. Business indicators show confidence and optimism. However, there is still a lot of homework to do and there is no time for complacency; we will draw lessons from the crisis.”


President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy attended  a special meeting with the leaders of the political groups open to all MEPs on 8 February where he reported the outcome of Friday's EU summit. Attention focused on EU efforts in the areas of energy and innovation, the economic outlook and the situation in Egypt.

Maroš Šefčovič (Vice President of the Commission), speaking on the economy, welcomed the European Council's commitment to support more economic convergence and said that the Commission is determined to act to reinforce economic governance in the EU. On energy he welcomed the European Council's decision to step up in gear in order to reach the energy and climate policy objectives.

Joseph Daul of the EPP Group said that on energy none of the EU 27 should see its energy security threatened by the lack of connections. "The solution is not less but more Europe," he said.

On the economy he said: "The topic of governance and fiscal convergence tax and social needs to be addressed, debated and resolved in a purely national context, not purely intergovernmental but by the Community method. The solution to our problems does not go through more confrontation between member states but more common solutions.

On the economy Socialists Martin Schulz (S&D) saw the Franco-German "competitiveness pact" approved by the Council as an attempt to export the German budget cutting approach to the rest of Europe which, according to Schultz, would mean further crisis for many  Member States.

Leader of the Liberals Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE) spoke about the economy and expressed his concerns about the way the French and German  governments proposed the Competiveness Pact and criticised the intergovernmental approach as not working for the EU. He said he was concerned that the European Council is making the EU into an international organisation of European nation states. "That is not my Union, my Union is a real community working for the community matters."

Rebecca Harms (Greens) said that after every summit - irrespective of the result - "we have feedback, which gives the impression that everything went 'swimmingly good' and that everything was achieved. In the future I think we should get more honest reports from the European Council," she said.
 



© European Parliament


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