Remarks by Van Rompuy ahead of the G20 summit

05 September 2013

In his statement ahead of the G20 summit in Saint Petersburg, the Council President said that the global economic outlook was steady, but risks and challenges remained. (Includes links to statements by President Barroso the European Council & the IMF.)

The eurozone is in a much better shape than a year ago in Los Cabos. We are correcting the internal imbalances and almost all 28 EU Member States will have positive growth in 2014 - with clear signs of improvement already now. Advanced economies are recovering and emerging market economies still contribute greatly to global economic activity.

This is also the outcome of the bold actions that the G20 and G20 members took from 2009, to fight one of the most severe economic and financial crisis in living memories. Our decisions saved us from the worse, but we will need to do more to ensure the better.

In Europe, our four-strand strategy is bearing fruits, yet we relentlessly continue our efforts.

  1. Through measures to ensure financial stability and restore normal lending to the economy. Here we have succeeded to reduce financial fragmentation and substantially lower the cost of borrowing for our most fragile countries. The existential threat to the eurozone is over for almost a year now.
  2. Through structural reforms and gradual fiscal consolidation to restore competitiveness and sound public finances. Here we are already witnessing the first positive results with higher exports as a result of increased competitiveness, also in the weaker economies. And at the same time, public deficits have been halved since 2008.
  3. Through initiatives at the level of the Union and the Member States with an immediate impact on growth and jobs, notably our Compact for Growth and Jobs of 120 billion euro with a new investment plan and our Youth Employment Initiative.
  4. And finally, through measures to strengthen the architecture of the Economic and Monetary Union, in particular through the rapid completion of a banking union for all eurozone banks. After having agreed a single European supervisor of all eurozone banks, we are now taking the next step with the negotiation of a single resolution mechanism to handle banks in trouble.

In this difficult economic context where everyone is making efforts, and where budgets are tight, it is unacceptable that many, individuals and corporations, continue to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. This is the reason why the European Council agreed to step up its fight against tax evasion and avoidance by extending automatic exchange of information to a full range of income. 

Full statement

Statement by President Barroso ahead of the G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg - Enduring in Our Efforts

See also 


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