Rompuy is preparing a special EU summit to focus on economy and jobs

On his first day as president of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy called a special summit to seek a way out of the current crisis and start mapping the EU's economic and social agenda for the next decade.

“We need more economic growth in order to finance on a sound basis our social model [and] to preserve our European way of life,” he explained. “I'm already preparing the next European Council on 11 February," he said, insisting: “I took the initiative to convene this Council.” 

Unemployment is expected to soar in 2010, with Eurostat predicting a peak of approximately 10.3 % for the EU-27 towards the end of the year.

The Baltic countries, Ireland and Spain are the EU member states that have been hit hardest, with unemployment rates doubling or worse since the economic crisis began. Youth unemployment in particular has reached new historical highs in recent months, according to a recent EU report.

The state of public finances in some European countries has also started to raise concerns. Deficit in Greece is expected to run at over 120 % of GDP in 2010.

Last November, the European Commission launched a consultation on the EU's new economic and social strategy for the next decade – “EU 2020 strategy”.

This new strategy will replace the EU's flagship Lisbon Agenda for growth and jobs, adopted in the Portuguese capital in 2000 which expires this year.

Vladimíra Drbalová
International Organisations and EU Affairs