Euro exchange rate decline to help exports: Van Rompuy

(COPENHAGEN) - EU president Herman Van Rompuy said Monday the recent decline in the euro exchange rate could boost eurozone exports and thereby help avoid a deep recession.

"New trade opportunities and new markets are to be exploited to stimulate foreign demand and export," he said, noting that "recent exchange rate developments for the euro will help."

Van Rompuy was speaking to reporters in Copenhagen following a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, kicking off Denmark's turn at the rotating European Union presidency which it took over on January 1.

The euro dropped Monday to $1.2666 in Asia, its lowest level since September 2010.

Van Rompuy warned that the EU needed to do all it could to prevent falling into recession.

"We must avoid a recession. We need to mobilize all our energy for this at the level of the Union and most importantly at the level of the member states," he added.

Most economists have predicted that the eurozone will experience at least a short recession in the coming months. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP).

The question is whether the eurozone will be able to avoid a protracted recession, which would make it more difficult to combat the current public debt crisis.

Van Rompuy said EU leaders would discuss an "anti-recession strategy" to kickstart growth and employment at a summit in Brussels on January 30.

He said he saw three main guidelines to follow: to ensure that the necessary budget cuts do not hamper economic growth in new technologies, research and education; stimulate demand; and stimulate employment, especially for young people, in particular through flexible labour market legislation.