France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti speak together prior to a meeting at the European Council in Brussels ahead of the European Union leaders summit, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders were trying Monday to come up with ways to boost economic growth and jobs, which are being squeezed by their own governments' steep budget cuts across the continent. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, pool) FRANCE MAGS OUT
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti speak together prior to a meeting at the European Council in Brussels ahead of the European Union leaders summit, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders were trying Monday to come up with ways to boost economic growth and jobs, which are being squeezed by their own governments' steep budget cuts across the continent. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, pool) FRANCE MAGS OUT
British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, speaks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders will try to come up with ways to boost growth despite steep budget cuts across the continent when they meet in Brussels on Monday. The 27 heads of state and government will get a taste of the popular frustration with austerity and high unemployment as they try to get to the summit in a city paralyzed by strikes. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti speak together prior to a meeting at the European Council in Brussels ahead of the European Union leaders summit, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders were trying Monday to come up with ways to boost economic growth and jobs, which are being squeezed by their own governments' steep budget cuts across the continent. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, pool) FRANCE MAGS OUT
Belgium's Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, left, speaks with Czech Republic's Prime Minister Petr Necas during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders will try to come up with ways to boost growth despite steep budget cuts across the continent when they meet in Brussels on Monday. The 27 heads of state and government will get a taste of the popular frustration with austerity and high unemployment as they try to get to the summit in a city paralyzed by strikes. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
British Prime Minister David Cameron, left, walks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. European leaders will try to come up with ways to boost growth despite steep budget cuts across the continent when they meet in Brussels on Monday. The 27 heads of state and government will get a taste of the popular frustration with austerity and high unemployment as they try to get to the summit in a city paralyzed by strikes. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)
BRUSSELS (AP) ? A top official says the European Union realizes it has not done enough to get out of its financial crisis and must do more to stimulate the it economy.
"We recognize that financial stability is not enough in itself to get out of the crisis," said Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, said Monday after a summit meeting of European leaders. "We must do more, particularly in the areas of growth and employment."
Critics have accused the EU of focusing relentlessly on austerity to the exclusion of economic growth, thereby potentially pushing Europe toward recession.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
BRUSSELS (AP) ? All European Union countries, except Britain and the Czech Republic, agreed Monday to sign up to a new treaty designed to stop overspending on the eurozone and put an end to the bloc's crippling debt crisis, while also pledging to stimulate growth across the region.
The new treaty, agreed at a summit of European leaders in Brussels Monday, is known as the fiscal compact and includes strict debt brakes and makes it more difficult for deficit sinners to escape sanctions. The 17-country eurozone hopes that the tighter rules will convince investors that all countries will get their debts under control and restore confidence in their joint currency.
"We have a majority of 25 that will now sign up to the fiscal compact," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.
Although the new rules only apply to the 17 euro states, the currency union was hoping to get broad support from the other EU states, in the hope that the accord could eventually be integrated into the main EU treaty.
Britain had already said in December that they wouldn't sign the new treaty. Reinfeldt said that the Czech Republic didn't sign up because of parliamentary procedural problems.
The Swedish prime minister said it he decided Sweden should join even though it does not use the euro because the new accord gives it more influence on policy within the currency union.
The summit also promised to stimulate growth and create jobs across the region, in a tacit acknowledgment that their exclusive focus on austerity has had painful side effects. Earlier Monday the meeting pledged to offer more training for young people to ease their transition to the work force, deploy unused development funds to create jobs, reduce barriers to doing business across the EU's 27 countries, and ensure that small businesses have access to credit. However there was no offer of any new financial stimulus.
"We must do more to get Europe out of the crisis," they said in a statement.
The European Commission, the EU's executive, says that there are still euro82 billion in development funds that have yet to be allocated, and the statement from Monday's summit said they should be "rapidly" committed to projects focused on growth and job-creation.
Europe's debt crisis has put the continent and its leaders in an almost impossible situation. While they have to slash their deficits to reassure investors reluctant to lend to them, the debt crisis has also hammered the so-called "real economy," sending unemployment soaring. Many analysts, politicians and trade unions think that only government spending can restart growth.
Overall, 23 million people are jobless across the EU, 10 percent of the active population. In Spain, unemployment has soared to nearly 23 percent and closed in on 50 percent for those under age 25, leaving more than 5 million people ? or almost one out of every four ? out of work as the country slides toward recession.
Even countries in the so-called European "core" ? which are generally better off ? are suffering. The French government was forced Monday to revise down its growth forecast for the year from 1 percent to just 0.5 percent.
In fact, many now fear that Europe is on the verge of another recession, and leaders gathering in Brussels said that while austerity is important, more needs to be done for growth. Economists often note that cutting spending is just one way to slash deficits; another equally important method is to boost growth, which increases the amount of money pouring into government coffers.
While the leaders meeting in Brussels focused on walking the fine line between reining in spending and stimulating growth, the elephant in the room was Greece.
Greece and its bondholders have come closer to a deal to significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he hoped a final agreement on Greece will be achieved "in the coming days," either at a special meeting of eurozone finance ministers or leaders.
Negotiators for Greece's private creditors said Saturday that a debt-reduction deal could become final within the next week. If the agreement works as planned, it could help Greece avoid a catastrophic default, which would be a blow to Europe's already weak financial system.
But European officials are afraid that even that deal may not be enough to fix Greece's finances, with some blaming Athens for dithering on its promise to cut spending and introduce austerity measures.
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Associated Press writers Don Melvin, Robert Wielaard and Raf Casert contributed to this story.
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