The informal meeting of heads of state and government held in Brussels “has been an example of the need for the European Union to have an economic government”, according to the President of the Spanish Government and head of the rotating EU presidency, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

President Zapatero explained that the subject of an economic government “was the focus of a large part of the discussions”, in which there were references to tax harmonisation and the methods that the EU must establish to become stricter on compliance with the goals of the 2020 Strategy. The need to open a debate on the future of pensions and to hold more frequent meetings of the Council on economic matters was also brought up, he said at a press conference art the end of the meeting.   

“Today's meeting is an example of the need for an economic government... it shows that the goal which we have proposed (as holders of the rotating presidency of the EU) of making the European Council an even greater body that can guarantee the economic governability of the European Union”, he stated.

He added that, "in my opinion, there is clear tendency towards this position, and when I speak of economic governance of the EU, I not only refer to economic government concerning the EU-27, but the world economy and the positions that the EU should take in decisive matters for the future, such as regulation of the financial system, regulation of raw materials and climate change”.  

During his appearance, the Head of the Spanish Government gave an account of the meeting, which was held “to analyse the 2020 Strategy, which the European Union is going to adopt in the first half of this year, to work towards economic recovery, to improve growth and to strengthen the co-ordination of what we have come to call the European economic government, based on the belief that the integration of our economic policies strengthens our competitiveness and achieves our goals”.

He stated that the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durao Barroso, presented two documents “that were very positively received and led to a wide discussion that is going to enrich the 2020 Strategy with objectives and specific monitoring mechanisms and to focus all of the European Union's energy on relaunching economic growth and the generation of employment in the medium term”.  

He added that a response to the situation in Greece had been given “with a European, and therefore a 'Europeanist' solution, which demonstrated the commitment of the EU-27 and Europe's institutions”.  This solution was prepared beforehand in a meeting called by Van Rompuy which Zapatero attended as the current rotating President of the European Union and which Barroso, the President of the European Central Bank, Jean Claude Trichet, and the President of the Euro Group, Jean Claude Juncker, Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy of Luxembourg, all attended.

“Today the European Union has given a message of calm and confidence in its system, and in this case in particular, in the Eurozone”, he said. “We have no doubt that Greece merits the trust and support of the EU. We know that it is facing a difficult task and it should therefore know that it can count on all of the technical support of European institutions," he added, after saying “Our support and the solidarity of the 27 Member States is guaranteed".

Finally, he explained that the European Council had postponed the discussion on climate change, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Policy and Security, Catherine Ashton, called upon the EU-27 regarding the situation in Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless following the earthquake.

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