MEPs welcome summit outcome

MEPs have broadly welcomed the outcome of the European Council, particularly the agreement reached on a growth and jobs pact.

But some MEPs raised concerns about a possible backtrack by Denmark and Finland on some of the commitments made.

EU leaders agreed on 28-29 June to use the eurozone's planned bailout fund to directly support struggling banks, without adding to government debt.

However, this week the Finnish and Dutch governments voiced their concern about using the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to buy bonds on the secondary market to reduce borrowing costs for struggling eurozone countries, like Italy and Spain.

British Conservative MEP Martin Callanan said this was a sign that the deal "is already unravelling".

UK Independence Party MEP Nigel Farage also doubted the effectiveness of the agreement reached by leaders to steer Europe out of the economic crisis.

"It's not credible and I think the euro crisis now looks to me frankly insoluble," he told the plenary.

Turning to the head of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, Mr Farage said: "You don't have the presence, credibility or standing for the international markets to believe you can provide a solution."

Earlier on in the debate, Mr Van Rompuy said the meeting was "at times difficult, but fruitful".

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told MEPs that "real progress" was made, but there was still "a lot" of work to do as the economic crisis is "far from over".

The heads of state and government reached three key agreements on bailout funds, moves towards banking union, and on growth.

Dutch MEP and Liberal group spokesman Guy Verhofstadt urged Mr Barroso to bring forward "concrete legislative proposals" as soon as possible to implement the steps agreed.

MEPs passed a resolution on the conclusion of the summit the following day.

Useful links:

Democracy Live's guide to how the plenary sessions work.

A disclaimer on the use of simultaneous interpretations, on the European Parliament's website.