国际英语新闻:EU calls for efforts to boost growth through single market, trade

BRUSSELS, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The European Council meeting on Sunday focused on how to boost economic growth, while discussions on the pressing matters related to the eurozone debt crisis have not borne substantial fruits.

A large portion of the conclusions released after the summit of European Union (EU) leaders is devoted to growth-enhancing measures, which include exploiting the single market, reducing administrative burden and reducing the overall regulatory burden, among others.

"The immediate economic challenges are serious: pressure on banks and on sovereign bonds, slowing economic growth, rising unemployment," European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said at a press conference in Brussels after the summit.

The European Council focused first on how to boost common growth, because stimulating growth is essential for the EU to "regain safe ground."

"A perspective of sustained economic growth can bring back confidence, create jobs and absorb debts," Van Rompuy said.

He identified the Single Market as the best tool to boost growth and said much more can be achieved by further integrating the European market.

"We decided to accelerate those measures in the Single Market which will create jobs and growth in the short to medium term. For instance by making it easier for small and medium size enterprises to get credit and to hire employees," the European Council president told reporters.

Echoing Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said earlier on Sunday at the European Council meeting that completing the Single Market would significantly boost growth, and "Relevant reforms would add around three percent to the GDP level in 2020."

In his presentation to the meeting, Barroso illustrated the benefits of the single market by an example of calculating the cost of patenting.

"The average EU costs of patenting is approximately 35,000 euros. Such costs could be reduced by 80 percent if the proposed 'unitary patent' system is adopted."

Van Rompuy also stressed the importance of promoting trade and investment ties with non-EU countries. "Europe's trade and investment relations with our international partners are another element of growth. Today we discussed how to use these relations more strategically."

Barroso's presentation showed that about a quarter of Europe's growth in 2010 came from trade with partners outside the EU. By 2015, 90 percent of future economic growth will be generated outside of Europe.