EU leaders, including Slovenian PM Janez Janša, will meet for a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday to discuss new measures for the debt crisis in the eurozone. Clear and realistic messages are needed to calm financial markets, EU officials have said in the face of aid requests from Spain and Cyprus.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has urged for concrete signals showing that everything necessary is being done, pointing to budget and reform measures recommended by the European Commission to member states. Slovenia has been told to address problems in the banking sector, reduce the budget deficit, embrace the golden fiscal rule and reform the pension system and labour market. Van Rompuy also called for a confirmation of the growth and jobs pact. The leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Spain announced last Friday that EUR 130bn are to be secured for this purpose. Measures discussed include investments into European energy, transport and telecommunication networks and a capital increase for the European Investment Bank worth EUR 10bn - unofficial estimates put Slovenia's contribution at EUR 24m. The start of the debate on the bloc's budget for 2014-2020 is also on the agenda, as are plans for bridging the EU crisis by moving closer to a fiscal and economic union. The summit, which will be followed by a meeting of eurozone leaders, is moreover expected to confirm the start of accession negotiations with Montenegro. In the run-up to the summit, Janša met European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to discuss the conditions in Slovenia's banking sector, which has been hit hard by the collapse of the construction sector and weakness in industry. The Slovenian prime minister is also scheduled to take part in the traditional pre-summit get-together of leaders of the European People's Party (EPP) on Thursday.
Source: The Slovenia Times
