The heads of the European Union (EU) governments meeting on Thursday shifted their focus from crisis management to sustainable economic growth on the continent. EU President Herman Van Rompuy, who chaired the meeting, said late Thursday at a news conference that the discussions were mainly on two issues linked to economic growth. The first was how fiscal consolidation could go hand in hand with growth and employment prospects and the second was how to improve competitiveness, Van Rompuy said.European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said it should be time for the EU to move from “crisis mode” to “growth mode.”The second bailout package of Greece was also discussed at the first session of the summit. “We welcomed the progress made on the New Greek program. The aim is to put the Greek economy back on a sustainable footing, both in terms of debt sustainability and competitiveness,” Van Rompuy said.
