Europe needs growth as well as budget discipline, and must prioritize green growth, the President of the European Commission said here Thursday.

"Fiscal discipline and sound public finances are indispensable for Europe, but that is not enough.. growth is also necessary," said Jose Manuel Barroso.

"Strict reforms boosting competitiveness, and measures enhancing growth, are as important as putting our public finances in order, so as to restore confidence among (EU) citizens.. and among investors worldwide," he told a news conference at the end of a two-day working visit to Copenhagen.

"The fact that Denmark puts the EU single market and green growth at the heart of its presidency is crucial to ensure that we will succeed," he added.

Earlier, Barroso and a delegation of EU Commissioners discussed priorities and expectations of Denmark's EU presidency with the Danish government, and officially opened the Danish EU presidency at a ceremony here Wednesday.

The Danish EU presidency, which started Jan. 1, comes at a time when several eurozone countries are struggling with sovereign debt problems, and have had to impose austerity measures to cut ballooning government budget deficits.

Following their meetings, Barroso and Danish PM Helle Thorning-Schmidt said economic responsibility in the 27-member EU, is top of the Danish EU presidency agenda.

"We agree that the economic and financial crisis is going to be the most important issue that the EU and Danish EU presidency is going to have to face. We will do what we can to bring Europe further and get the EU out of the crisis," Thorning-Schmidt told the news conference.

The Danish EU presidency wants especially to improve the EU single market, continue negotiations on the EU seven-year budget (2014-2020), reduce unemployment, kick-start green growth, and create green jobs.

However, the Danish EU presidency's green agenda suffered a hard knock as news emerged Thursday that Danish wind-turbine maker Vestas will fire over 2,300 employees, mostly in Europe and Denmark, by the end of 2012. Vestas is among the world's leading wind-turbine manufacturers and is Denmark's flagship green sector company.

"It feels like an enormous setback for what we want to achieve: investment in green technologies," Thorning-Schmidt said of the redundancies in response to journalists'questions.

Barroso, who has hailed the Danish EU presidency's green growth and energy efficiency priorities, said this setback should not deter green investments.

"If we are serious about the green agenda, we can, through regulatory means also, create more incentives for new markets in this field," he added.

Thorning-Schmidt's government has consistently said it wants Denmark and Europe to invest heavily in education, research, green jobs and energy efficiency measures.

"We want to be world leaders in energy efficiency and green technology. It is not just good for the environment, it is also good business for Europe," Thorning-Schmidt added.