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Friday, March 20, 2015

EU leaders wrap up spring summit by discussing crisis in Libya, economic policy

by  Associated Press EU summit wraps up with talks on Libya, economy Associated Press - 20 March 2015 10:21-04:00 BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union heads of state and government spent the final day of their spring summit focused on the situation in Libya and on ways to boost the bloc's economy: —ECONOMY: Leaders backed a plan by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to spur investment. They also affirmed a target of the end of the year to conclude free-trade negotiations with the United States. —LIBYA: The leaders, fearful the unrest in Libya could splash over into Europe, tasked the EU's top diplomat with helping mediate talks between Libya's warring factions. Here's what happened on Thursday: —UKRAINE: Leaders agreed not to lift EU sanctions on Russia until all the points of a peace accord for eastern Ukraine have been fulfilled. EU leaders also asked the bloc's foreign policy chief to come up with better ways to counter what they call Russian disinformation about the Ukraine conflict. —ENERGY UNION: Europe wants to create an energy union to decrease its dependency on oil and gas from Russia. The leaders pledged to end the separation between their 28 national energy markets, which they said would save European consumers about 40 billion euros ($43 billion) a year. —GREECE: EU leaders said the Greek prime minister recommitted to providing a list of concrete reform proposals in the coming days, as demanded by its creditors. News Topics: Business, General news, Summits, Economy, International relations, Government and politics People, Places and Companies: Jean-Claude Juncker, Europe, Libya, Middle East, Ukraine, Russia, North Africa, Africa, Eastern Europe Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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