José Manuel Barroso, President of the EC, and Enda Kenny, Irish Prime Minister and President in office of the Council of the EU, participated in the inaugural meeting of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU with the EC. During the joint press conference José Manuel Barroso stressed the need to lay the foundations for lasting growth and job creation. He added that the time for taking emergency decisions should be over as the doomsday scenario of a break-up of the euro area which many were foretelling had not come to pass.
José Manuel Barroso particularly welcomed the Irish Presidency's decision to prioritise reaching an agreement on the EC proposal on youth guarantee schemes, which aimed to tackle youth unemployment and social exclusion. He also stressed the need to finalise the agreement on the Single Supervisory Mechanism for banks before the end of January 2013 and to continue to work on this important sector especially through the proposals for a bank resolution mechanism that the Commission would propose during the year 2013. The President also emphasised the importance of trade as a driver for growth.
On the multiannual budget for the EU, José Manuel Barroso said he was hopeful that the agreement could be reached in the following few weeks. He concluded by commending Ireland for its unwavering commitment to implementing the economic adjustment programme and said that there was clear evidence that the commitment to reform was starting to pay off.
José Manuel Barroso and Enda Kenny eventually participated in an event for the opening of the European Year of Citizens 2013.