EU akkoord over grote lijnen EU 2020-strategie (en)
Following two days of discussion, the heads of state and government of the European Union have approved the overarching lines of the sustainable growth strategy known as Europe 2020, based upon the proposal of the European Commission.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero i, the President of the Spanish Government and currently also at the helm of his country's presidency of the EU, said "it is especially pleasing that the objectives are specific ones designed to tackle our leading problems in order to maintain stable growth and increase our potential in education, research and the battle against climate change".
Zapatero appeared with the permanent President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy i, and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durao i Barroso i, to explain the overarching areas of the strategic plan, which will be definitively approved in June.
Europe's common economic strategy over the coming decade will strengthen the economic demands made on countries, hand over greater powers to the European Commission and set out new commitments for the European Council.
Zapatero said the essential idea underpinning the conclusions on the "Europe 2020" strategy was one of coordination for economic governance of the EU-27.
"This is a significant leap forward. Today, we have approved our collective task, and in June we will also have to approve the work to be done by each" Member State, the Spanish President said, adding that "the credibility of this strategy will depend upon how it is fulfilled".
Another of the goals mentioned was the battle against poverty, although no objectives have been set as yet.
The battle against poverty
President Van Rompuy said that both Barroso and Zapatero had "fought bravely to ensure this objective was included in the 2020 strategy". He said that concrete figures regarding the elimination of poverty would be given at the European Council meeting in June.
Van Rompuy said the objectives set by the leaders "represent an overview of the European model", in other words, a social market economy framework with broad environmental content. "This is the model we have inherited, and the one we want to pass on to future generations", he explained.
The European Council is also focusing on the challenge of improving the competitiveness of its Member States. This area of discussion remains open, Zapatero said, because while the competitiveness of some countries, such as Spain, has fallen since the euro came into force in 2002, Spain is also one of the few Member States not to have lost its share of the market in international trade.