Economy to be Europe's priority for second half of year

It's the economy stupid. That was the message from Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende yesterday (28 April) as he hinted at the priorities for the Dutch Presidency which begins on 1 July.

Speaking to journalists after dinner with French President Jacques Chirac, Mr Balkenende said, "We need to concentrate on the European economy because, if you compare it to the American economy, you can see that Europe is behind. We need a new strategy".

In fact, Europe already has such a...