EU sets economic priorities for next five years

Brussels, June 28 (IANS) Leaders of the European Union (EU) said that they have set economic priorities for the next five years, media reported Saturday.

The announcement came after a summit meeting was held in Brussels Friday, Xinhua reported.

An EU official statement said European countries are emerging from the deepest economic crisis, but important challenges such as slow growth, high unemployment still remain.

"All our economies need to pursue structural reforms and therefore the EU needs bold steps to foster growth," the statement said.

The priorities set by the EU are to fully exploit the potential of the single market in all dimensions, to promote a climate of entrepreneurship and job creation, to invest and prepare the economies for the future, to reinforce the global attractiveness and to make the economic and monetary union a more solid and resilient factor of stability and growth.