President José Manuel Barroso - European council, 27

European council, 27 - 28 June 2013

"This was a good Summit for Europe," stated President Barroso at the joint press conference at the end of the European Council.

President Barroso underlined that at this European Council "decisions have been made that will make a difference for our economy and the job prospects of our citizens, especially the young.

The second day of the European Council focused on the Economic Monetary Union and especially the Banking Union. President Barroso stressed that "we have been pushing full steam ahead on the banking union. And this week we saw an important step forward with the Council's agreement on a common approach to dealing with failing banks without relying on the taxpayer. We need this finalised by the end of the year at the latest, so a full agreement between the Council and Parliament. The European Commission will present its proposal for a Single Resolution Mechanism in the next two weeks. This will ensure effective European decision-making on banks in difficulties within the Single Supervisory Mechanism."

He stressed that "this is about making sure that it is the banks who pay for their own mistakes and not the citizens."

President Barroso also presented important decisions taken on the future enlargement of the EU and regarding the euro area. "We will have another member of the euro area from next year, Latvia. We all very warmly congratulated Latvia for its impressive achievements," said President Barroso.

He welcomed the decision to set a date for the start of negotiations with Serbia and at the same time, opening of negotiations for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Kosovo. He also announced his trip to the Croatian capital Zagreb, to welcome Croatia to the European Union family.

In conclusion President Barroso paid tribute to the Irish Presidency and its impressive results achieved including the MFF deal, the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the reform of CAP and fisheries policy, Horizon 2020 regulations, the youth guarantee, the mandate for negotiations of Trade and Investment Partnership with the United States.

"A good day of work for Europe"

27/06/2013

"Today was a growth and jobs summit", President Barroso said, commenting on the results of the first day of the European Council. "It was also about creating a new consensus to get our economy growing again."

"The reality is that our growth performance is disappointing, and in some parts of Europe we have a social emergency. So we need to face this situation with courage and determination, and I believe a part of the response is confidence", the President said.

President Barroso highlighted the endorsement of the Commission's country specific recommendations, the concrete decisions to frontload funds to tackle youth unemployment and getting finance to Europe's small companies. He also said that "One thing is sure: we had a growth compact but we cannot develop this growth compact without a growth fund. Our growth fund at European level is of course the multiannual budget. This is why I was delighted that this morning we have agreed, with the President of the European Parliament and with the President of the Council - the current Irish Presidency, agreed politically, on the next multiannual budget for Europe. This is critically important now, so that we have all the instruments to develop the policies agreed."

President Barroso concluded his remarks with an assessment of an intense day of discussions: "the last 24 hours have been a great success because we have obtained this, by the Council, this approval of the Directive on Bank resolution and recovery; we have an agreement between Parliament and Council on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and today we have also agreed on the next MFF, and we have in this European Council very important decisions regarding youth employment and support to small companies. A good day of work for Europe".

President Barroso presents conclusions of the European Council in Strasbourg

European Council conclusions, 27 June 2013