European Union (EU) leaders are gathering here on Monday to discuss growth and jobs creation in order to strike a balance between economic development and austerity measures in the 17-member eurozone's latest efforts to combat debt crisis.

A draft of a summit communique calls for "growth-friendly consolidation and job-friendly growth," as it becomes increasingly apparent that austerity measures alone could harm debt-laden countries' long-term growth and push them into a downward vicious circle.

"This is the European Council where we need to get really serious about the growth agenda in Europe," British Prime Minister David Cameron said upon arriving at the summit. "It means a serious effort at deregulation, particularly for small businesses, so they can create the jobs and the growth that we need."

"It is about employment," Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who is also the Eurogroup chief, said on the purpose of the summit. "We have to learn to explain that it's not just about the consolidation our finances, but we also need the prospect of growth."

Leaders at the summit are set to share experiences of the different paths to promote jobs and growth, especially how the EU can support member states in boosting youth employment and helping small and medium-sized enterprises.

As the eurozone economy is widely expected to go through a mild recession in 2012, weak eurozone economies has to find ways to improve productivity and conduct labor force reforms to successfully solve the crisis and achieve long-term growth.

"This is not a choice between fiscal consolidation and growth. We need both," said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, in a statement issued on Friday.

Unemployment is an urgent issue for the EU, where the average unemployment rate stands at around 10 percent. In Spain, the unemployment rate has reached as high as nearly 23 percent with more than five million people out of work.

In total, the EU has more than 23 million unemployed people and it is feared that wide-ranging austerity measures will harm employment prospect.

Leaders from 26 of 27 EU members, excluding Britian, are to put finishing touches to the fiscal compact for stricter budgetary discipline at the summit.

They are also to adopt the permanent eurozone rescue fund, the 500-billion-euro (660 billion U.S. dollar) European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is set to replace the temporary European Financial Stability Facility(EFSF)on July 1.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet