Luxembourg PM and EU Council chair Jean-Claude Juncker successively convened meetings on Thursday 10 February with representatives of the European Round Table of Industrialists, the Platform of European Social NGOs and the European Environmental Bureau.
Juncker wanted to consult the three different organisations on the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy which Commission President José Manuel Barroso proposes to focus chiefly on growth and jobs.
"Economic growth is not an end unto itself," Jean-Claude Juncker declared after the meeting. "The Presidency has no intention whatsoever of abandoning the social and environmental aspects of the Lisbon Strategy."
Juncker expressed confidence that this view "will certainly be reflected in the conclusions of the European Council of 22 and 23 March 2005."
