Barroso: Thatcher 'circumspect yet engaged player in EU'
Let me, on behalf of myself and the European Commission, say that I was deeply saddened to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher.
She was without doubt a great stateswoman, the first female Prime Minister of her country, and a circumspect yet engaged player in the European Union.
She will be remembered for both her contributions to and her reserves about our common project.
She signed the Single European Act and helped bring about the Single Market.
She was a leading player in bringing into the European family the Central and Eastern European countries which were formerly behind the Iron Curtain.
As you remember, Britain under Mrs Thatcher's leadership was very supportive of the enlargement of the European Union.
Her legacy has done much to shape the United Kingdom as we know it today, including the special role of the United Kingdom in the European Union that endures to this day.
I would like to convey my deepest regrets to the Government and people of the United Kingdom.
– European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he is concerned by the crisis in Cyprus and hopes that a solution can be found, according to Reuters.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Credit: Julien Behal/PA Wire
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said that the Italian elections must not put in doubt the need for reforms to continue, according to Reuters.
The Prime Minister has held a meeting with the European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council president Herman Van Rompuy.
Other EU leaders will be ushered in throughout the day to see the two presidents as part of an unusual pre-summit effort to avoid deadlock when the summit gets under way tonight.
He said this is the only path to sustainable growth and that a confident G8 summit will recognise this. He emphasised the growing awareness in Europe of the need to combine fiscal consolidation with structural reform.
Turning to the issue of Greece's existence within the Eurozone he said Europe wants Greece to stay in the Euro area and that Greece is part of the Euro family. But he stressed that the nation must fulfill its commitments for its loan program.
