All the files on the table

Creating job opportunities, especially for young people, and restoring credit flows to the economy are the two main items marked on the agenda of the European Council of 27 and 28 June, yet another meeting to deal with the negative consequences of the crisis. But many other topics were addressed within the Justus Lipsius building, including the proposed banking union, the strengthening of economic and monetary union (EMU), the multi-annual budget, the entrance of Croatia – as of 1 July – as twenty-eighth acceding State. Such a wide range of complex issues thus overshadowed the priority of labor and corporate loans.Young people at the top of the agenda. On the eve of the summit the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy (Belgium) highlighted the items on the agenda. "In the two coming days our aim should be above all to agree on tangible measures to bring down the high unemployment levels that our countries are facing, especially for young people", said Van Rompuy (the total number of unemployed in the EU amounts to 25 million, of 6 million of whom are under25). Among the "urgent" actions, announced on several occasions, the Council president recalled the Youth Employment Initiative, Youth Guarantee schemes (the offer of employment, training or further education), mobilising all available resources in support of youth employment, and increasing youth mobility. Furthermore, "to restore credit flows in the economy, we should launch a new "Investment action plan", with measures to support SMEs". In his letter Van Rompuy referred to the Compact for Growth and Jobs adopted last year and not yet implemented. Banks, governance. Representatives of 28 countries therefore arrived in Brussels with various thoughts on their minds. On the one hand – is the shared conviction – national economies need to be revitalized to meet the expectations of citizens, who demand jobs and certainty for the future. On the other hand, the EU invokes – and rightly so – a consolidation of the public finances, in order to give "sustainability" and continuity to growth. It is the position expressed above all by the Commission through the "recommendations" for domestic reforms in each Member State, stated in the agenda, that closes the 2013 "European semester" for the governance, coordination and convergence of economic policies . No less challenging seem to be the negotiations for the creation of a banking union (the ECOFIN of 26 June addressed the rules for the bailouts of banks), as well as those for the EMU. CAP and budget. However, in the imminence of the summit the prospects seemed better as regards two "concrete" aspects of EU policy. In fact, on June 26 EU institutions reached an agreement on the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), one of the main, historical chapters of the European integration. On June 27 the race against time to adopt the Multiannual Financial Framework – a much needed tool to identify the amount of funding available for EU policies in the years 2014-2020, ranging from support to employment to the CAP, from Erasmus projects to the realization of infrastructures, from energy policies to security, from research to consumer protection – finally reached the finishing line.Satisfied voices. Thus the two budgetary authorities, European Parliament and EU Council of Ministers, have set the figures up to 2020 – which in fact circulated for months – at 908 billion euro for payments and 959 for commitments. EU Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, who acted as mediator for the budgetary authorities, spoke of a "political agreement", which must now be ratified officially, and of "a good deal for the Union, for its citizens and for the ‘European economy as a whole". Martin Schulz, president of the EU Assembly, pledged that he will ensure "MEPs’ ratification of the Agreement", while the Irish president-in-office of the Council (until June 30) Enda Kenny, said she intends to "persuade EU countries to support the agreement", on whose figures the 28 were divided. The agreement also contains a flexibility clause envisaging a better use of EU funds over the next seven years, while 3.5 billion in measures for deprived persons were also confirmed.