EU summit

Commenting the outcome of today's European Council, Greens/EFA co-president Rebecca Harms said:

"Despite alarming evidence that Spain and Italy are following Greece into recession, EU leaders are taking a coffee break and continuing to put a comprehensive solution to the debt crisis on the back burner. The vague 'growth strategy' signed off today is little more than a speech bubble, and will do little to address Europe's economic and employment problems.

“It is high time to end the damaging blinkered focus on public spending cuts and start addressing ways to strengthen national revenue sources. A long-overdue step to this end is to take common measures to tackle tax avoidance and evasion, as well as finally implementing a financial transaction tax and introducing a proper common corporate taxation system, with a view to ending arbitrage.

“Instead of vague commitments, EU governments and the Commission need to set out concrete measures towards economic recovery, notably by promoting sustainable investments. Current moves in Council to block an ambitious energy efficiency directive show that member states are not willing to do what is necessary however.”