Mr Lew has previously said
the US had an "immense stake in a prosperous Europe"
The US Treasury
Secretary has urged eurozone countries to "boost demand" in order to
reduce unemployment and avoid deflation.
Jack Lew was speaking
at a meeting of the G20 group, which includes several of the world's largest
economies.
Earlier this month,
the European Central Bank introduced new measures to stimulate the area's flagging
economy.
However it has stopped
short of adopting the policies favoured by its US counterpart, the Federal
Reserve.
As well as launching
an asset purchase programme, through which it will buy debt products from
banks, the ECB cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.05%.
The bank has been
under pressure to kick-start the eurozone economy, as manufacturing output has
slowed and inflation has fallen to just 0.3%.
"Europe is going
to need to solve its problems and resolve differences it has internally," Mr Lew told
reporters at the meeting in Australia, "but what's clear
from the US experience is that the combination of taking action to boost demand
in the short run and make structural changes for the long run is an important
combination, and it shouldn't become a choice between the two.
"You really need
to pursue both."
Mr Lew also expressed
concern about the political tensions between European countries, and the effect
this may have on pushing through urgent policies.
"The concern that
I have is that if the efforts to boost demand are deferred for too long, there
is a risk that the headwinds get stronger, and what I think Europe needs is
more tailwinds in the economy," he cautioned.
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