OREANDA-NEWS. March 26, 2010. Today, a two-day meeting of the European Council began in Brussels. During the first day, the main topic was the new economic strategy of the European Union – “Europe 2020“.

At the discussions, the main goals of the new strategy were focused on. According to the proposal of the European Commission, the European Union must increase the employment rate, invest in research and development, fulfil the goals of the energy and climate policy, increase the proportion of youth with a higher education and decrease the number of drop-outs from schools as well as the number of people living in risk of poverty.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip emphasised that the achievement of an agreement on these goals is very important with regard to the further development of the European Union.

“The citizens of the European Union want to see specific actions that help to lay a foundation for new economic growth,” Ansip said. “An agreement on common political goals allows us to continue with practical steps."

According to Ansip, the common goals provide a framework for the individual activity of Member States without compromising their right to decide. At the same time, these support the implementation of changes, simplify the making of decisions and provide people with security.

“In Estonia, the strategy of the European Union has been of great assistance to the government,” Ansip said. “Based on it, we have managed to quickly increase the funding of research and development, for example.”

Prime Minister Andrus Ansip specifically pointed out to his European colleagues the need to create a digital internal market.

“We wish that by the year 2020, there will be a single and secure digital internal market in Europe,” Ansip said. “Currently, the functioning of the internal market of the European Union is significantly hindered by the lack of an e-services space. We need a European Union where both public e-services and digital business services can easily be used by the citizens and businesses of the Member States."

Outside the agenda, the financial situation of Greece was also discussed at today’s meeting of the Council. As a result of the discussions, an agreement was reached on how to provide financial aid to Greece, should the need arise.