Brussels, 23/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - The EU "is succeeding" in its "historical challenge" to stabilise the Eurozone and to get the Union out of economic and financial crisis, said the permanent President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, in a video message published on 22 December. "Together, the Member States and the European institutions had to row against the tide. Governments had to reorganise their budgets. We developed a new form of economic governance for the Eurozone and for the Union. We set up an emergency fund to help member states with bridging loans. We agreed to change the treaty, in order to establish a permanent stabilisation fund as of 2013", he said. Van Rompuy, who has now been in his position for a year, has learned a lesson from the events of recent months: "we will have to go much further in developing common economic policies to match our common currency". But it has not been all bad over the last year, the permanent President of the European Council continued: "the economy is growing particularly quickly (…). In some countries, unemployment is already falling. Overall, the number of jobs will rise next year. I know that that is not the case everywhere, but also there the recession will be temporary". As regards external relations, "the EU stood together in the G20 meetings in Canada and Korea, in Cancun on climate change, and in Geneva on negotiations with Iran. We are succeeding more frequently to give a common message. In just one year we have come a long way", Mr Van Rompuy concluded. (H.B./trans.fl)