News story

PM phonecall with Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy

"The Prime Minister emphasised the need for bold action to restore Europe's competitiveness"

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Prime Minister made two calls today to Jose Manuel Barroso who is President of the European Commission and Herman Van Rompuy who is President of the European Council.

Following the phone calls, a Downing St spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister has called both the European Council President and the President of the European Commission to discuss next week’s Informal European Council.

The Prime Minister emphasised the need for bold action to restore Europe’s competitiveness. In this context, the meeting should concentrate on ways that the EU can support economic growth across the continent and set specific targets to liberalise EU trade with other markets and to reduce the burden of EU regulation on business.

Turning to foreign policy, they discussed Syria and Iran. The Prime Minister welcomed the sanctions packages that had been agreed this week by foreign ministers on Monday. Leaders should send a clear signal from the summit that they will continue to maintain pressure on both regimes until they address the concerns of the international community. The Prime Minister also raised the need for the EU to underline its support for the progress being made in Burma and the need for this to continue.

Published 26 January 2012