Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte is one of 12 European leaders to sign an open letter to the European Commission calling for more effort to be made to stimulate economic growth.

The letter comes ahead of the next EU summit on March 1 and 2, and calls for action to ‘modernise our economies, build greater competitiveness and correct macroeconomic imbalances’.
The letter, sent to Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, calls for action to take the ‘single market to its next stage of development, by reinforcing governance and raising standards of implementation.’
Services
Action should focus on the services sector and on developing a ‘truly digital’ single market by 2015, boosting cross border trade and cutting back on copyright regimes.
The letter, which lists seven priority areas, also calls for the energy markets to be opened up and for a removal of trade barriers with the US.
It was signed by the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Spain and Britain. Notably absent are Germany and France.
Leaders call for EU growth and jobs plan