BRUSSELS - European leaders concluded a "drama-free" spring summit on Friday,
reaching decisions aimed at addressing the European Union's debt crisis,
economic growth and international relations.

Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, called the two-day
summit "drama-free" because most summits during his first two-year-and-half term
were filled with late nights of intensive debates, delays and extensions

At the news conference on Friday, Van Rompuy said the EU should continue to
play a bigger leadership role globally, adding that the EU and its member
countries should form a united front at international conferences such as the
United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June.

At the summit, the European Council also evaluated the eurozone's overall
macroeconomic situation and provided a set of strategic guidelines for member
states, which will focus on improving competitiveness and combining economic
growth with fiscal consolidation.

The leaders will reassess the adequacy of the lending ceiling of the European
Financial Stability Facility at the end of March after recently agreeing to give
Greece a second bailout fund of 130 billion euros ($172 billion).

European officials also agreed to speed up payments into the European
Stability Mechanism, which will be equipped with 500 billion euros and launched
in July.

On Friday at the two-day summit, 25 EU members, not including the United
Kingdom and the Czech Republic, signed the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and
Governance of the Economic and Monetary Union, which introduced stricter fiscal
surveillance within the eurozone.

Any member state with a budget shortfall of more than 3 percent of GDP and
total government debt exceeding 60 percent of GDP will be penalized.

Originally, Brussels had planned to revise the EU treaty to strengthen fiscal
discipline, but the UK strongly opposed it. When it was signed on Friday, the
Czech Republic joined the UK in opposition.

"Regrettably, it proved not possible to achieve our objectives via a regular
revision of the EU treaty, so we are working outside of it," said Van
Rompuy.

After Friday's signature, the member countries will work to ratify the
treaty. Van Rompuy urged European leaders to convince their parliaments and
voters that "this treaty is an important step to bring the euro durably back
into safe waters".

The European Council also granted EU candidacy to Serbia during the summit.
"This is a remarkable achievement - a result of the efforts demonstrated by both
sides in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina," Van Rompuy said.