Brussels, 28/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - “Austerity is not the same as financial stability”, explained Graham Watson (UK) of the European Liberal Democrats at an ALDE summit on Thursday 28 June ahead of the European summit. He said the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, should show more solidarity at the summit and in order to solve the crisis, EU27 action is needed, rather than action by only four countries, be it in terms of the public debt or bank recapitalisation, adding that could not be any growth without public and private investment.
Olli Rehn, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, called for greater economic integration, giving the example of Italy, which could introduce structural reforms, but other things had to be done at EU level. Neelie Kroes, Digital Agenda Commissioner, was very practical, saying that during the last crisis, more than 24 million Europeans had lost their jobs and as far as she was concerned, Europeans should not be left on the scrapheap. “Citizens are waiting, we have to give them signals,” she said. (EL/transl.fl)