The British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, spoke of a shift in Europe's preoccupations from inflation to the fear of deflation.
The new Italian Prime Minister, Mr Massimo D'Alema, warned that "the fight against inflation must not go so far as fostering deflation". "There is now a very strong political will for Europe to be committed to efforts to prevent a world recession and to boost growth and jobs," he told journalists at the end of the informal EU summit in Austria.
The subtext of the message was clear. Europe has taken a turn to the left.
With 11 of its prime ministers now socialists, the summit that welcomed both Germany's Chancellor-elect, Mr Gerhard Schroder, and Mr D'Alema, was not just saying auf wiedersehen to Dr Helmut Kohl, but to his policies. They sweetened the pill, however, by making him Europe's second honorary citizen - the first was Jean Monnet.
The summit, whose agenda was extraordinarily broad, touching on internal and external security as well as the European and world economies and internal reform, took few concrete decisions but did give a tangible sense of a new direction to the EU.
Just as importantly, diplomats say, although the leaders did not discuss Agenda 2000 they strongly welcomed the determination expressed by Mr Schroder to complete negotiations by the summit at the end of the German presidency next June. To that end the Germans are planning two special summits, in February and March.
Leaders also agreed to an extra summit next year in October to discuss the fight against crime and co-operation on issues such as immigration and asylum.
The "left turn" was, surprisingly perhaps, best summed up by France's President Chirac who said that "the years of excessive liberalism have come to a close. For some months now a new current has emerged for a social Europe, a Europe of the people". In part it was changed times, in part changed policies. With the chill winds of the international financial crisis forcing Europeans to revise down estimates of growth, the message from leaders here was unmistakeable. Europe must go for growth and job creation as its number one priority.
Although central bankers alone have the prerogative to lower interest rates, the leaders of Europe were saying in so many words they should cut rates.
The Portuguese Prime Minister, Mr Antonio Guttieres, was blunt, quoting a Deutsche Bank study which calls for a cut in German rates to 2.75 per cent - if that happened it would again widen the gap that must be closed before the end of the year between Ireland's 4.75 per cent and its European partners. And he called for a greater dialogue with the bankers.
The bete noire of the Irish, harmonisation of taxes, reared its head again too. The Taoiseach dismissed the calls from several colleagues, arguing that he had no problem with harmonising best practice but would not be party to penalising it.
"Why were the 1980s so bad?" he asked. "Because we had penal tax rates," he responded, insisting that part of Ireland's success lay in its reduction of taxes.
Irish neutrality policy may also be more vulnerable after the weekend, following a speech by Mr Blair in which he deplored the EU's inability to make quick and effective decisions over Kosovo and signalled a new British willingness to contemplate a European defence dimension.
Mr Blair has reversed Britain's traditional opposition to an EU defence arm, insisting, however, that NATO's role must not be undermined.
