The European Commission is preparing a broad Internet consultation on revising the Lisbon Strategy "in early autumn 2009," EurActiv has learned.
According to Commission sources, topics likely to feature in the consultation include:
- Improving the business environment;
- the knowledge 'triangle' (education, research, innovation);
- energy and climate change, and;
- access to the internal market.
Commission spokesman Mark English said the EU executive will present its formal proposals "in late 2009 or early 2010" in view of final adoption under Spanish EU Presidency in the first half of next year.
The spring summit of EU leaders, which is traditionally devoted to economic issues, will adopt the main policy orientations, he said, with more detailed decisions expected at the June summit. These could cover areas such as "integrated guidelines, country-specific recommendations, a new type of Community Lisbon Programme and more developed proposals in specific policy areas, such as innovation strategy," English said.
Reforms to put Europe out of recession
Speaking at the Brussels Economic Forum last week, EU Economy Commissioner Joaquín Almunia said the economic and financial crisis was adding a new sense of urgency and political relevance to the revision process.
Almunia warned that EU companies will have to rely less on financial institutions as a result of the credit crunch. "So the dynamism that previously came from the financial markets will have to be found elsewhere."
Almunia said this is where the revised strategy will come into play, with "an acceleration of structural measures" focusing on the following areas:
- Reform of product and labour markets,
- R&D and innovation,
- education and skills, and;
- green growth.
"Our exit strategy in terms of structural policy must put green growth at the heart of the agenda," Almunia said. "The world's shift to low carbon offers huge possibilities for business and industry. Only by investing in renewable energies, low-carbon technologies and green infrastructure will Europe maintain its place at the frontier of this revolution and tackle climate change that risks being so costly for our societies and economies."
Almunia admitted that "most of these initiatives are not new" and have formed "the core recommendations of the EU's Lisbon Strategy for some time". Yet "the crisis makes an ambitious and coordinated implementation of this agenda more necessary than ever," he added.
Stronger coordination of economic policies 'crucial'
With the current recession, "stronger economic policy coordination will be crucial," Almunia said, adding that "more effective surveillance will be key to putting these exit strategies in place and ensuring their success, especially because the crisis has exposed shortcomings in both areas".
"If we are honest, the initial crisis response in Europe lacked the necessary coordination," Almunia said, echoing criticism from national capitals, including France, which held the rotating EU presidency at the outbreak of the crisis.
"Enhanced coordination coupled with more effective surveillance will be key to putting these exit strategies in place and ensuring their success," Almunia said.
Spain to focus on greater economic integration
Almunia's comments echoed those of Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who said he would seek a greater political dimension to the EU's economic policy when he takes over the EU helm in the first half of 2010 (EurActiv 29/04/09).
Speaking at a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in late April, he said: "I agreed with President Sarkozy that if the European Union really wants to be a political union, which works for its citizens, it has to have a much more solid economic government [...] with tools," Zapatero said. "I can't see a single market, a single currency, then not see an economic government with powers, with tools," he added.
A statement about the Spanish EU Presidency, published on the prime minister's website, said the need for a strong Europe was "all the more indispensable in the context of the international crisis". The EU's Lisbon Strategy, it added, remained "one of the fundamental pillars" of EU economic policy.
France wants 'an economic strategy for Europe'
Meanwhile, France outlined ambitious plans for Europe's economic renewal.
"France will propose to its partners an economic strategy for Europe, based on concrete actions and aimed at accelerating the exit from the crisis," said French Prime Minister François Fillon after a government meeting on 6 May. The proposals will be made "on the occasion of the forthcoming revision of the Lisbon Strategy," according to a statement.
Topics to be highlighted include "financial regulation or the importance of the industrial dimension of economic policy," said a source close to the matter, speaking to EurActiv France. But the details still need to be fleshed out, the source admitted.
According to one diplomatic source, the proposal will be in line with President Sarkozy's EU campaign speech of 5 May. Regarding European economic policy, the French president said Europe "could not do without an economic policy," saying it was "unreasonable" for countries that share the same currency not to have a "concerted economic policy". This, he said, "cannot be summarised to an inflation objective and respect of the criteria of the Stability Pact".
The crisis, Sarkozy continued, "provides us with the opportunity to go further in the reflection on economic policy as well as on competition policy". "We need debates on monetary policy. We need debates on budgetary policy. We need debates on competition policy," Sarkozy stressed.
"We must end this single way of thinking that is afraid of discussion, that is afraid of confronting ideas," he added, in a thinly-veiled attack on the European Commission.
