Conclusions of the European Council 16-17 December 2010

17 December 2010

The Council reiterated its commitment to reach agreement on the legislative proposals on economic governance by the end of June 2011, with the aim of strengthening the economic pillar of the Economic and Monetary Union, and to continue to implement the Europe 2020 strategy.

The European Council welcomed the report presented by its President following up on its conclusions of 28 and 29 October 2010. It agreed that the Treaty should be amended in order for a permanent mechanism to be established by the Member States of the euro area to safeguard the financial stability of the euro area as whole (European Stability Mechanism). This mechanism will replace the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM), which will remain in force until June 2013. As this mechanism is designed to safeguard the financial stability of the euro area as a whole, the European Council agreed that Article 122(2) TFEU will no longer be needed for such purposes. Heads of State or Government therefore agreed that it should not be used for such purposes.

The European Council called for the acceleration of the work on the six legislative proposals on economic governance, building on the recommendations of the Task Force endorsed last October and keeping a high level of ambition, so that they can be adopted by June 2011. It welcomed the Council's report on the treatment of systemic pension reform under the Stability and Growth Pact and called for the report to be reflected in the specifications on the implementation of the reformed SGP.

Council conclusions

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