Gezamenlijke verklaring Barroso en Van Rompuy bij G8: stimuleringsmaatregelen en saneren overheidsfinanciën gaan samen (en)

We had an important debate with the other G8 leaders on the global economy in Camp David this morning.

We were comforted to hear that all leaders agree on the need to take action to boost confidence and nurture recovery in response to the current economic challenges we face.

There was agreement between the G8 leaders that growth-boosting measures and efforts to put public finances on a sounder footing go hand-in-hand. Opposing the two is false debate.

Our discussions today underlined the strong interdependence of our economies and the value of a frank discussion and shared understanding between us to draw the right lessons which can benefit us all. This is precisely why the G8 is such a valuable forum, and why Acting Together is such an appropriate motto for this year’s G8 at Camp David.

We had a candid and open discussion with the other G8 members on the situation in the Euro area. Ongoing EU discussions and measures taken to generate growth, combined with structural reforms, targeted investment and fiscal consolidation were welcomed by the non-European G8 leaders.

On Greece, it is important that, together with our G8 partners we reaffirmed our strong wish to see Greece staying in the Euro zone, while respecting the commitments that were made.

We took from the discussion strong expressions of trust and encouragement from our G8 partners, which we will build on as we are prepare upcoming discussions between EU leaders next week and beyond.