Bakgrunn (fra kommisjonsmeddelelsen, engelsk utgave)

Acting in a coordinated way at EU level
The unprecedented crisis in international financial markets has created major challenges for the EU. Co-ordinated action at EU level by all 27 Member States has been effective in stabilising Europe's banking system. Implementation of measures has to be rapid so as to put much needed liquidity back into the financial system. But the financial crisis is not yet over and is already feeding into a serious downturn affecting the wider economy, hitting households, businesses and jobs. The shocks hitting the European economy are expected both to reduce the potential growth rate in the medium term and cut actual growth significantly in 2009 and 2010. As investment shies away from risk, productivity will be put under downward pressure and innovation may suffer.

Europe's strength lies in its solidarity and our ability to act together. All Member States will be affected, albeit in different ways and to different degrees, and it is likely that unemployment will increase, demand will fall, and fiscal positions will deteriorate. Acting jointly means a more effective and credible response. In contrast, if each Member State acts alone, their efforts will fall short. There is also a risk of unwelcome spillover effects on other Member States.

The fact that the EU was able to take collective action when the pressure on financial markets was at its most intense was central to the stabilisation of the banking sector. Coordinating national action inside a set of clear EU principles, complemented with direct EU action, proved to be the right approach. It was backed up with decisive, coordinated and effective action: at the EU level by the French Presidency of the Council, the Commission and the European Central Bank, and at the national level by the Member States, with full support and cooperation from the European Parliament.

The EU should build on this success and decide to tackle the next stages of the crisis in a united, co-ordinated manner turning these challenges into opportunities; adding selected short term measures to the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs. This paper sets out a three part approach which will be developed into an overall EU recovery action plan/framework:

• A new financial market architecture at EU level
• Dealing with the impact on the real economy
• A global response to the financial crisis

This Communication is presented as a Commission contribution to ongoing debate inside the EU and with our international partners on how best to respond to the current crisis and its aftermath. On 26 November the Commission will propose a more detailed EU recovery framework, under the umbrella of the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, bringing together a series of targeted short term initiatives designed to help counter adverse effects on the wider economy and adapting the medium to long term measures of the Lisbon strategy to take account of the crisis.