[WATCH] Muscat meets European Council President

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy congratulated Prime Minister Joseph Muscat for the "landslide victory" in the 2013 general elections.

Muscat this afternoon is taking part the traditional spring European Council meeting set to focus on how to strike a balance between the austerity measures in place and the creation of new jobs and economic growth.

This will be a hard nut to crack since Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel remains determined to keep Europe focused on budget discipline, to prevent any resurgence of market jitters about eurozone stability.

The rate of unemployment within the eurozone has almost reached 12%, with France pushing for more flexibility in the budget targets set by the EU Commission.