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| Version 10 | Version 11 |
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| Europe announces 200bn-euro plan | Europe announces 200bn-euro plan |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The European Commission has unveiled an economic recovery plan worth 200bn euros (£170bn) which it hopes will save millions of European jobs. | |
| The idea is to stimulate spending and boost consumer confidence by injecting more purchasing power into region. | |
| Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said the plan was "timely, temporary and targeted". | |
| The EC expects member states to contribute 170bn euros while the European Union will give 30bn euros. | The EC expects member states to contribute 170bn euros while the European Union will give 30bn euros. |
| Mr Barroso said it was important that EU members acted together in a period of "exceptional crisis". | Mr Barroso said it was important that EU members acted together in a period of "exceptional crisis". |
| "It's the best way to restore citizens' confidence and counter fears of a long and deep recession," he added. | "It's the best way to restore citizens' confidence and counter fears of a long and deep recession," he added. |
| I expect this package to receive strong support Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commisison president | |
| The European Commission president said the bigger part of the package would be implemented in 2009, while some measures would continue into 2010. | |
| The proposed plan will need to be approved at the next EU summit in December. | The proposed plan will need to be approved at the next EU summit in December. |
| The BBC's Europe Editor, Mark Mardell said that much of the Commission's proposals looked a lot like British Chancellor Alistair Darling's recent financial package. | |
| "The Commission's hope is that if others follow suit soon, it will have a big impact," he said. | |
| Germany's warning | Germany's warning |
| The 27 member states need to decide whether to sign up to the plan. | The 27 member states need to decide whether to sign up to the plan. |
| "Measures that member states are introducing should not be identical, but they need to be coordinated," said Mr Barroso. | |
| Mr Barroso said he had been in touch with member states about the package and a consensus was emerging. | Mr Barroso said he had been in touch with member states about the package and a consensus was emerging. |
| "I expect this package to receive strong support", he said. | "I expect this package to receive strong support", he said. |
| Earlier, Chancellor Merkel expressed concern about getting "into the race for billions" by unveiling huge stimulus packages. | |
| PLANS TO TACKLE DOWNTURN Some measures already announced by national governments Germany: package of measures set to generate 50bn euros in investment and contractsFrance: 19bn euro injection into key industriesSpain: 40bn euro fiscal stimulus package, including 6bn euros in tax cutsItaly: 80bn euro stimulus package, but a large part of the money has been already receivedUK: £20bn (23.6bn euro) fiscal stimulus plan, including cut in VAT | |
| "We should walk a measured path and keep to the middle ground, which is made-to-measure for the situation in Germany," she told the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament. | "We should walk a measured path and keep to the middle ground, which is made-to-measure for the situation in Germany," she told the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament. |
| A number of member states, including Germany, France and Italy, have already announced their own measures designed to stimulate their economies, including multi-billion injections into key industries and tax cuts. | A number of member states, including Germany, France and Italy, have already announced their own measures designed to stimulate their economies, including multi-billion injections into key industries and tax cuts. |
| Mr Barroso said that the plans already unveiled by member states were part of the Commission's recovery plan. | Mr Barroso said that the plans already unveiled by member states were part of the Commission's recovery plan. |
| He said that not every country had to commit to the target of 1.2% of GDP. | |
| "We have different points of departure. So we picked an average effort of 1.2%." | |
| 'Flexibility' | |
| Earlier, France and Germany's leaders called on the EU to ease its fiscal rules to allow nations to spend more to boost their economies. | Earlier, France and Germany's leaders called on the EU to ease its fiscal rules to allow nations to spend more to boost their economies. |
| The requirement to hold public deficits below 3% of GDP in individual EU countries should be eased, France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel said. | The requirement to hold public deficits below 3% of GDP in individual EU countries should be eased, France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel said. |
| The two leaders made their comments in a joint newspaper article in France's Le Figaro and Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, saying that governments had to head off a "recessionary spiral" at home. | The two leaders made their comments in a joint newspaper article in France's Le Figaro and Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, saying that governments had to head off a "recessionary spiral" at home. |
| But Mr Barroso said the Commission was not planning to revise EU budget rules. | |
| "We are not going to introduce greater flexibility. The stability pact already has flexibility in it," he said. |