SMEs vital to economic success, say EU leaders amid warnings over austerity

With more than 23m people unemployed in Europe and austerity measures threatening the possibility of creating jobs, EU leaders agreed a series of measures designed to stimulate growth.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny spoke about the importance of the SME sector and told of the Government’s approach to aiding the country’s 100,000 small and medium-size companies.

He was one of five asked to speak to his fellow EU leaders during the summit about the importance of different aspects of the economy to drive job creation.