Brussels, 20/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - Discussing the economic situation in Europe, the European Summit pointed out on Friday 20 March that the business traffic lights in Europe are now on green.
“Recovery is on its way. It is of a conjunctural nature, and we would like to structurize it,” explained the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, said the leaders had given the go-ahead to the triptych (investment, structural reform and budget responsibility) that shall form the basis of countries' social and economic policies (see EUROPE 111277). The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said that Ireland, Spain and Portugal had outlined their budget consolidation and growth success stories. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy pointed out that within a few months, Spain had gone from being a country that inspired fear to a motor for growth in Europe.
The EU28 wondered why it is that economic growth is lower in the EU than it is in the United States. Merkel said that US society was more flexible. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, said that the US had speedily restructured their financial sector after the 2008 crisis and had a more integrated internal market. His Greek counterpart, Alexis Tsipras, said that the Fed in the US worked to support growth, which is very different from the task of the ECB.
Juncker Plan. The economic backdrop has shifted enormously - with a 20% fall in the value of the euro against the US dollar and a fall of nearly 50% in the price of oil, along with historically low interest rates - which the French president, Francois Hollande, said was a wonderful opportunity for investment. He said the Juncker Plan would apply later this year and countries can add to it, as France has already done to the tune of €8 billion. The EU's leaders want the European Fund for Strategic Investment that is expected to leverage €315 billion in private investment over three years to be operational in June. (Mathieu Bion, with JC/SP/LC)