The economic skies above Europe are clearing after the long years of crisis and governments should take advantage of this to get their economies in order, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi said on Friday.

"The economic outlook for the euro area is brighter today than it has been for seven long years," Draghi told an economic forum in Sintra, Portugal. But he added: "This is by no means the end of our challenges, and a cyclical recovery alone does not solve all of Europe's problems."