NEWS
Prime Minister Pahor at European Council meeting
The Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor attended a two-day European Council meeting in Brussels. On this occasion, the EU Heads of State and Government discussed and adopted decisions on two main topical issues, namely on the new EU strategy for growth and jobs and the follow-up to the Copenhagen climate change conference.
Yesterday, the conference was opened by the President of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy, who welcomed and addressed the participants. He said that this was the first European Council meeting under his Presidency and outlined the two main topics of the meeting, i.e. the economy and climate change. The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, on the other hand, focused in his yesterday's speech on the EU2020 Strategy, particularly on the increase in employment growth and competitiveness, as well as on long-term projects related to economic growth, the financial crisis, climate change and the European External Action Service (EEAS).
On the margins of the European Council meeting, the Heads of the Eurozone states adopted at a separate meeting a special statement, in which they highlighted the awareness of common responsibility for economic and financial stability in this area. They supported the endeavours of the Greek Government to tackle the critical economic and financial situation and decided that, should it prove necessary, they would take determined and harmonised measures in order to protect the financial stability of the Eurozone as a whole. This relates to a package of measures, including ample IMF funds and substantial financial assistance by the EU. Moreover, the Council members adopted the Internal Security Strategy for the European Union approved by the Justice and Home Affairs Council at its meeting on 25 and 26 February 2010, and nominated Vitor Constancio to become the vice president of the European Central Bank.
In his statement to the press at the close of the meeting, Prime Minister Pahor today in Brussels particularly highlighted the significance of the EU2020 Strategy, which is, in a way, an updated Lisbon Treaty. He went on to say that the situation today is essentially different to the one a decade ago. Therefore, the EU updated the Lisbon Treaty and adapted its goals to the current circumstances. Today, Europe exercises great caution, as it has suddenly found itself among less important players, which do not attribute much significance to solidarity. And this is an issue which affects Slovenia as a player both, within the European Union and together with it. "I am satisfied with the exit strategy and our results; although we are successful, we are not without problems, however, we follow our course", added Mr Pahor. Slovenia has problems and ambitions, which are comparable to those of the most successful EU countries. Prime Minister Pahor also touched upon the problems of Greece as an EU Member State and the adopted measures, and emphasised that Slovenia, for the time being, would not take part in them. A significant part of the European Council meeting was dedicated to climate change, which, according to Mr Pahor, is a heavy task for the EU, a task, in which Slovenia will intensively participate within the Eurogroup.
On the margins of the European Council meeting, the Slovenian Prime Minister had several brief bilateral meetings, including the talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, EU President Herman Van Rompuy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai.