Brussels - European Union leaders should agree on ways to
preserve jobs during the recession and strengthen the bloc's
financial oversight at this week's summit in Brussels, European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday.
In a letter addressed to EU heads of state and government, the
head of the EU executive said the summit should also finalize the
EU's position on how to tackle climate change ahead of a crucial
December meeting in Copenhagen, and should find ways of helping Italy
and Malta deal with the seemingly unstoppable influx of immigrants
reaching the bloc via the Mediterranean Sea.
Barroso, a former conservative prime minister from Portugal, is
vying for a second term as commission chief and hopes to receive a
political endorsement to this effect from EU leaders during the
Thursday and Friday gathering. Observers said the letter he sent on
Tuesday revealed an eagerness to put his footprint on the June
council meeting.
Ways to deal with Europe's worst economic crisis in decades topped
his list of priorities, with the protection of jobs high on his
agenda.
Officials said Barroso was urging presidents and prime ministers
to take 'tangible steps to keep people in employment, maintain viable
jobs and help unemployed people back into work.'
The commission wants to see at least 5 million apprenticeships
created in 2009-2010 and is making 19 billion euros (26 billion
dollars) in community funds available to member states.
But Barroso said leaders should also begin to consider how to rein
in public spending once the recession is over.
The commission president also pushed for 'strong consensus' on an
improved oversight of the bloc's banks and financial markets through
the creation of European supervisory bodies, his spokesman, Johannes
Laitenberger said.
At last week's meeting in Luxembourg, EU finance ministers gave
their broad backing to the commission's plans, but only after
overcoming some stiff resistance from Britain, home to the EU's most
important financial centre - the City of London.
EU experts have predicted more political wrangling on the issue at
the summit. An agreement at this week's meeting would allow the
commission to begin drafting a legislative proposal on financial
supervision over the summer.
Finally, Barroso asked EU leaders to provide the right legally
binding guarantees to Ireland so as to boost its chances of endorsing
the bloc's reforming Lisbon Treaty in a new referendum likely to take
place in the autumn. The treaty has been stalled since it was
rejected by Irish citizens in a similar referendum held last year.
During the summit, the commission president also planned to
illustrate to EU leaders his manifesto for his second term in office,
should he be picked. So far, no rival candidates have emerged.
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