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EU's Juncker calls for parliament's efforts on financial integration

Xinhua, December 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

The European Union (EU)'s executive chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday urged the European Parliament (EP) to make legislative efforts towards financial integration to help promote the economy, stressing the bloc's economic recovery was "still fragile."

"From my perspective, the crisis is not over and there should be no complacency," Juncker told a plenary meeting of the EP here, saying Europe was still facing tricky economic problems such as high unemployment.

Juncker, president of the European Commission, said the parliament's support was of great significance to the eurozone's economic and monetary union, a major step for the euro area to integrate member states' financial systems. He also persuaded EP members to allow Brussels to have more say in managing the currency.

The legislators are set to vote on Thursday on the Commission's proposals to further deepen economic integration, which would give the bloc's executive arm more powers if approved.

"We only have a short window of opportunity to press ahead with our agenda for reforms, investment and responsible public finances, with social fairness at its core," he noted.

In early November, the Commission lowered its forecast for the eurozone's economic growth and inflation both in 2015 and 2016. The gross domestic product in the single currency bloc was predicted to grow by 1.6 percent in 2015 and 1.8 percent in 2016, both down from the previous projection. Endit