EU agrees on growth compact, eurozone heads for banking union

 BRUSSELS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- The European Union's (EU) top leaders have agreed on a growth compact for long-term economic revival¹, while the crisis-hit eurozone has been one step closer to the banking² union as a two-day summit ended here on Friday.

EU leaders decided³ on the growth compact with 120 billion euros (about 150 billion U.S. dollars) to be mobilized in a bid to stimulate⁴ growth, investment and employment as well as make Europe more competitive, according to the conclusions of the June 28-29 summit.

Under the compact, country-specific recommendations have been endorsed⁵ to guide policies and budgets of some EU member states. In addition, a common patent system was also agreed upon among EU leaders to pave the way for more efficient implementation⁶ of intellectual property rights.

Meanwhile, eurozone leaders, after all-night negotiations⁷ in a 17-member summit, agreed to create a single supervisory body for its banks by the end of this year, which is seen as a first step towards a European banking union.

They also agreed that the bloc's rescue fund would be lent directly to capitalize banks without increasing a country's debt level, which should bring down the mounting borrowing costs especially for Italy and Spain and those countries will no longer be forced to adopt extra austerity measures.

"Many were skeptical⁸ about the summit. I hope they have been pleasantly surprised... We have taken decisions that were unthinkable just months ago," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at Friday's press conference, adding that "very good progress" had been made at the summit.

Markets responded well to the summit's result, with both the euro and European shares immediately surging. Yields of Spanish and Italian 10-year government bond also dropped significantly on Friday.

Barroso's confidence was echoed by other leaders, as French President Francois Hollande said at his national press briefing, "We made significant progress even though everything has not been gathered yet."

EU leaders have had a score of summits for the past two and a half years since the crisis broke out, but still fail to contain it from spreading to more economies in the single-currency area.

Major divisions have existed between the bloc's two largest economies ever since Hollande took office in France six weeks ago. The result of the eurozone summit was commented by some media as a defeat for German Chancellor⁹ Angela Merkel in terms of the gains for Italy and Spain.

In response, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy stressed that there was no winner or loser in the negotiations, and that EU leaders "were not entering that game."

"We have common task and common mission to stabilize¹⁰ the eurozone. We need to support those countries under market pressure, but they also have to deliver," Van Rompuy said at Friday's press conference.

At the summit, EU leaders also touched on foreign affairs including violence in Syria and nuclear program in Iran, and agreed to open membership talks with Montenegro.

1 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

2 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

5 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

9 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

10 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。