A European Union (EU) summit will beheld in Brussels on Feb. 11 to discuss measures to boost the EUeconomy, the global treaty on climate change, and emergency aid andreconstruction for Haiti.
The EU's new president, Herman Van Rompuy, will chair the summit for the first time since taking office.
Speaking with the press on Feb. 8 in Brussels, Van Rompuy called forestablishment of an “economic government” for the bloc, with closerpolicy coordination and financial incentives.
The EU president said the global economic crisis had revealedweaknesses in EU economic cooperation. Chief among them, a situationwhere each individual nation has its own economic strategy withoutcoordinating policies with other member countries in line with the EU’sagreed-upon general strategic targets, which include growth andemployment.
The evocation of an European “economic government” won France’ssupport, yet Germany, Britain and others remain opposed to the planwhich they see as an assault on their fiscal independence.
The summit this time will also prepare the groundwork for a new EU economic strategy that focuses on investment for research, innovation and the green economy.
The strategy will succeed the bloc's Lisbon Strategy launched in 2000,which was supposed to make Europe 's economy the most competitive anddynamic in the world. However, the strategy was considered neithersuccessful nor effective, and thus needs to be replaced./.
The EU's new president, Herman Van Rompuy, will chair the summit for the first time since taking office.
Speaking with the press on Feb. 8 in Brussels, Van Rompuy called forestablishment of an “economic government” for the bloc, with closerpolicy coordination and financial incentives.
The EU president said the global economic crisis had revealedweaknesses in EU economic cooperation. Chief among them, a situationwhere each individual nation has its own economic strategy withoutcoordinating policies with other member countries in line with the EU’sagreed-upon general strategic targets, which include growth andemployment.
The evocation of an European “economic government” won France’ssupport, yet Germany, Britain and others remain opposed to the planwhich they see as an assault on their fiscal independence.
The summit this time will also prepare the groundwork for a new EU economic strategy that focuses on investment for research, innovation and the green economy.
The strategy will succeed the bloc's Lisbon Strategy launched in 2000,which was supposed to make Europe 's economy the most competitive anddynamic in the world. However, the strategy was considered neithersuccessful nor effective, and thus needs to be replaced./.
