EU leaders agreed to a more growth-friendly interpretation of deficit rules, but Germany and others insisted that austerity measures will work if given more time.
Speaking after the meeting, French President François Hollande indicated that Member States were going to be given more leeway to pursue investment in growth policies. "We are meeting our commitments, but in a way that does not contradict our objective of growth", he said.
The summit conclusions note that existing "possibilities" within the rules governing the euro to balance public investment with fiscal discipline "can be exploited". Paris and Rome have been the most vocal about the need to balance austerity with growth and solidarity measures. But while the wording represents an acknowledgement that budget-cutting should not be the EU's sole focus, austerity is to remain the cornerstone of the approach to the crisis.
According to Hollande, leaders said they would implement a "growth pact" - agreed last summer and seen by critics as a sticking plaster remedy - at an "accelerated pace".
"Growth and jobs are not things governments can buy or summon. It is our overriding objective, a result, for which we have to keep striving", said EU council President Herman Van Rompuy.
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