EU-US Summit Focuses on Jobs and Growth
Nov 30, 2011
At the annual EU-US Summit in Washington, DC, leaders announced the establishment of a high-level working group to boost job creation and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic.
At a joint press availability following the meeting, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy stressed that the European Union and the United States both "need to take strong action to address the near-term growth concerns as well as fiscal and financial vulnerabilities, in order to strengthen the world economy." He noted that "slower global growth is not only due to the problems in the eurozone. Others have to do their part of the job too, for instance on exchange rate and on implementing the commitments made in Cannes earlier this month."
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso pointed out that the "problems in Europe are part of a wider picture: the world economy has not yet been able to absorb and overcome all these effects of the 2008 financial crisis. We face – in the EU and in the US – the common challenge of bringing debt under control while relaunching growth and creating new jobs. It is not an easy task in either side of the Atlantic." He also suggested that "if there is a silver lining to all of this, it is perhaps that it has shown just how interdependent our economies now are. Therefore, we need to work ever more closely together."
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