EU summit kicks off; economy in spotlight

The two-day summit is the first formal one hosted by the permanent President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, since he took office at the beginning of this year. In his invitation letter, Van Rompuy said that the European Council would first discuss the new European strategy for jobs and growth, the so-called "Europe 2020" strategy.

He said the leaders must "reach agreement on its main elements, including governance as well as the nature and scope of the EU headline targets, which will guide the implementation of the strategy. "This discussion should allow us to formally adopt the strategy in June," he added.

The European Commission recently presented the Europe 2020 strategy, calling for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for the EU by 2020. The new plan is supposed to replace the Lisbon Strategy, a 10-year blueprint adopted in 2000.

Despite the consensus that the bloc is in urgent need of a new development plan, the headline targets and the enforcement measures proposed by the Commission have received mixed reactions.

On Friday, EU leaders will talk about the follow-up to the Copenhagen Conference on climate change, looking at how a new dynamic can be brought to the negotiation process and making preparations for the upcoming meetings in Bonn and Cancun; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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