1、A leading official with the European Commission, who is wrapping up a 3-day trip here to China, is now suggesting that a balance between austerity and stimulus is what European leaders are now shooting for.CRIs Shen Chengcheng has the story. With the political uncertainty gripping Greece this week,
2、that countrys fortunes were a hot topic for reporters who gathered to hear what European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic had to say.Sefcovic says the message from the European Commission is clear - Greece has to stay in the eurozone.He says European countries are now working together to try
3、 to keep the common currency zone in tact.Overall the total amount of assistance to Greece is up to 380 billion euros, which is something like almost 180 percent of the Greece GDP. There is a special task force of European experts working in Athens to help restart the growth.But the prospect for the
4、 health of the eurozone isnt good.The European Commission is forecasting a zero growth across the eurozone this year.As such, Sefcovic says theyre now looking for ways to spur growth this year, while at the same time, working to get individual budgets in eurozone countries under their defecit target
5、 of 3-percent.We are going to use better the European budget for special programs to create jobs for the young people. We would like to introduce something like the job guarantee for youth. It should help the young people to find jobs, or allow them to continue their education.Unemployment is one of
6、 the major concerns in debt-ridden countries such as Italy, Portugal and Spain.About one-fourth of Spanish college graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed.Sefcovic says one of the ways to try to rectify that situation is to take a page out of Chinas books and direct money toward big infrastruct
7、ure projects.We would like to combine the European budget, European investment bank capital, on top of the private investment so we can start bigger infrastructure projects.The Vice-President says the EU welcomes Chinese investment in this area.He says China and the EU have also agreed to further cooperation in areas including energy, smart city projects, water management and food safety.For CRI, Im Shen Chengcheng.
