By Martin Banks - 2nd March 2009
This summit was yet another rather unproductive political showpiece
Arnaldo Abruzzini
There has been a mixed reaction to the emergency summit in which EU leaders met to try to coordinate a response to the economic crisis.
EU leaders ended Sunday's one-day summit saying they were determined to avoid protectionist moves in response to the downturn.
Speaking after the summit, commission president José Manuel Barroso said there was "consensus" on the need to avoid any unilateral protectionist measures.
He said agreement had been reached on a framework for dealing with the toxic assets on bank balance sheets that have crippled lending.
But there was no announcement of any new EU aid package for the badly-hit economies of central and eastern Europe.
Barroso stressed the EU was putting considerable funding into the region, saying €7bn of structural funds would go to the new member states this year, including €2.5bn for Poland.
The summit, called by the Czech Republic, came just a week after EU leaders met in Berlin to discuss reforming the EU's financial system.
Arnaldo Abruzzini, secretary general of Eurochambres, which represents business groups, said he was "rather disappointed" by the outcome of the summit, which he claimed proposed "no tangible actions".
"Beyond the political rhetoric calls for action, no decisive measures have been yet taken," he said.
He noted that 65 per cent of European businesses polled by Eurochambres last week said that lending conditions had got tighter over the last three months.
"This is an increasingly acute problem to which a solution remains to be found," he said.
He added, "There was a need to ensure that protectionist tendencies wouldn’t prevail. Declarations that protectionist measures have not been taken so far and that competition rules will be respected must be followed by evidence."
In what could be seen as an indirect reference to France's recent €6bn bail-out of its car industry, he said that "specific sectoral bailouts certainly don't go in the right direction".
Support for central and eastern European countries, must be taken on a "case-by-case basis" and be "thoroughly coordinated," said Abruzzini.
"This summit was yet another rather unproductive political showpiece, bringing no concrete solutions to the dramatic economic situation and showing a worrying lack of economic coordination among member states.
"We deeply hope that the spring European council will do better in a couple weeks time."
Joseph Daul, leader of the EPP-ED group in the European parliament, was more positive about the outcome of the meeting.
"In rejecting any ideas of recurring to protectionist measures, EU leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to solidarity and European cohesion," he argued.
"The summit has underlined that the social market economy is the only viable policy in this time of crisis."
"A common market without borders, which allows the free circulation of goods, services, persons and capital, an environment favourable for entrepreneurs to create more jobs and wealth, a free market guided by common rules - this is what Europe needs, and this is exactly what the European leaders have supported."
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