© European Union, 2011
09/12/2011
At the first working session of the European Council of
8 and 9 December, an agreement was reached on short-term action to
overcome the debt crisis and on a new fiscal compact for the euro
area.
At a press conference Herman Van Rompuy, President of the
European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, President of the
European Commission, explained the short-term measures. Up to €200
billion will be made available to the IMF, the European Financial
Stability Facility (EFSF) leverage "will be rapidly deployed" and
the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) should enter into force in
July 2012.
For the medium and longer term, the 17 eurozone countries will
conclude an international agreement. This fiscal compact, to be
signed no later than March 2012, will establish a new, stronger
fiscal rule, including more automatism in the excessive deficit
procedure. The objective remains to incorporate these provisions
into the treaties of the Union as soon as possible. The heads of
state or government of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden indicated the
possibility to take part in this process after consulting their
parliaments where appropriate.
The governance of the euro area will also be reinforced by
holding regular euro summits at least twice a year.
On the second day, the leaders will continue the discussion on
the above-mentioned issues and will debate economic policies,
energy, enlargement and external relations.
More information:
Remarks by President Van Rompuy after the first
session (pdf)
Statement by the Euro area heads of state or
government (pdf)
Press conference webcast
European response to the debt crisis website
EFSF website
European Council meetings