OREANDA-NEWS. June 25, 2009. The European Council summit ended in Brussels, its central topics being improvement of financial supervision, the economic situation, preparations for climate deals and the institutional issues of the European Union, reported the Official website valitsus.ee.

The heads of states and governments of the European Union reaffirmed that the financial crisis had clearly highlighted the need to improve the regulation and supervision of financial institutions. It was emphasised that tackling the bottlenecks that had appeared in the course of the current crisis would help avoid problems in the future.

Consequently, the Council supported the establishment of a special council that would monitor and assess potential risks to financial stability and, if necessary, present risk warnings and recommendations for taking counter measures.

Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said that the heads of the governments of the European Union expressed, with their resolution, the wish in the future to avoid crises similar to the one that has hit the entire world, including Europe.

“Rearrangements in financial supervision help rebuild confidence in the financial system, thereby promoting the revival of the economy,” said Ansip.

Because of the particularly complicated economic situation in Latvia, the participants in the summit expressed their uniform support to the cost cutting policy of the Latvian government.

According to Andrus Ansip, the recent decisions made in Latvia vividly demonstrate that our neighbours are ready to make hard choices in a difficult situation.

“Under such circumstances, it is extremely important that the European Union shows solidarity towards one of its member states and supports it in relations with international financial organisations,” said Andrus Ansip.

Within the framework of institutional topics, the Council discussed the guarantees to be granted to Ireland in relation to the Lisbon Treaty. In order to enter into force, Ireland must approve the Lisbon Treaty at a referendum. The agreed upon guarantees concern family and ethics issues, taxes, as well as security and defence policy.

The Council unanimously supported Jose Manuel Barroso’s second term as the President of the European Commission. Estonia has already earlier expressed its wish to see Barroso at the head of the Commission, also following the approval of the new composition.

“Jose Manuel Barroso’s performance as the President of the Commission has been excellent and that is why Estonia definitely backs his bid,” said Andrus Ansip.

At the summit, the European Union once again called upon all participants to cooperate towards reaching a deal at the climate conference to be held in Copenhagen this year and to speed up the relevant negotiations.

Outside the formal Council, eight Nordic and Baltic States and the President of the European Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan, which launches the creation of a common energy market in the area and allows for moving forward with reducing the energy isolation of the Baltic States.