Tag: Europe 2020

Hungary's national education targets under the EU's 'Europe 2020' strategy will be difficult for the country to meet. While the higher education aim may be achievable, its proposed early school leavers' goal is "not realistic," according to the Ministry of Education. EurActiv Hungary reports from Budapest.

Local leaders must be given the freedom to create tailor-made solutions for making the 'Europe 2020' growth strategy work, but must likewise take more responsibility for doing so, Lodewijk Asscher, acting Mayor of Amsterdam, told EurActiv in an interview.

The incoming Slovak government will have to define national targets based on the EU's 20/20/20 climate and energy goals. A clear national climate strategy is lacking so far, as is the clear attribution of primary institutional responsibility in this area. EurActiv Slovakia reports.

Bulgaria, the country with the most energy-intensive economy in the European Union, would benefit from aligning itself with the 'Europe 2020' targets on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and boosting renewable energies, as inevitably the measures introduced would boost competitiveness, experts said. Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, reports.

As 94% of Poland's electricity comes from coal, the country says it needs ''more time than others'' to meet its CO2 reduction targets outlined in the 'Europe 2020' strategy. Polish industry is even more critical of the goals. EurActiv Poland reports.

The French government has launched an ambitious plan to meet the EU's '20/20/20' climate objectives on emission reductions and renewable energy. The Grenelle 2 law, adopted in May 2010, was widely welcomed as an improvement, but many voices criticised the government for backtracking from its initial objectives. EurActiv France reports.

Without a follow-up, the González report about the measures that the EU needs to urgently adopt to avoid backsliding into irrelevance would be "just another document," Žiga Turk, secretary-general of the Reflection Group on the Future of Europe, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

After months of quarrelling, EU member states are set to agree on numerical targets to improve the European social economy by 2020, including education and poverty, according to the draft conclusions of tomorrow's EU summit, obtained by EurActiv. 

Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the liberal group in the European Parliament, has warned that the EU assembly could block parts of the Union's new ten-year economic strategy if EU countries were to continue to base it on cosy back-door deals. The Socialists have backed his calls.

Most East European EU countries are set to adopt national targets for research and development below the EU-wide goal of spending 3% of GDP on R&D by 2020. Only the Czech Republic appears ready to accept a national target at almost that level, according to a round-up by the EurActiv network.

A European Commission roadmap for reforming EU pensions to be presented later this month has received a broad welcome, though some experts warned that the proposals fail to take sufficient account of gender issues and "would hit women much harder than men".

Romania has decided that its national target for boosting research and development will be 2% by 2020, but to reach this goal, the private sector would have to increase its financial effort six or seven-fold compared to current levels. EurActiv Romania reports.

Polish politicians are questioning the merits of the EU's aim to increase investment in research and development (R&D) to 3% of GDP in the EU as a whole by 2020, but the issue could at least raise awareness of the fact that the country is lagging behind in innovation. EurActiv Poland reports.

Investing 3% of GDP in research and development (R&D) – one of the targets of the EU’s 'Europe 2020' strategy – is badly needed in France but there is little chance of this goal being met in the next decade, especially at a time of crisis. EurActiv France reports.

Hungary's expenditure on investing in research and development (R&D) barely amounts to 1% of GDP today. While Brussels sees boosting research and innovation as a way out of the current crisis, it is the economic downturn itself that is making the target seem over-ambitious. EurActiv Hungary reports.

The Reflection Group which recently published a report about the challenges facing Europe between now and 2030 would like 2014 to be the benchmark date by which Western Balkan countries should be given firm assurances on their EU accession, Kalypso Nicolaïdis, a member of the group, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

French centre-right MEP Alain Lamassoure yesterday (10 May) called on EU leaders to set up an annual "European Convention" on economic policy to ensure that the bloc's long-term growth strategy, Europe 2020, "doubles the Union's growth potential".

The EU must choose between becoming either a global "agent of change" or preparing "for a managed decline into irrelevance," according to a report from the group of 'wise men' led by senior statesman Felipe González, seen by EurActiv.

The Europe 2020 targets are "good and necessary," but more fundamental changes are needed to remove the "ton" of barriers that continue to hamper the completion of the single market, Nani Becalli, president and CEO of GE International, told EurActiv in an interview.

If the EU does not solve the e-skills gap, fewer engineers on the market will likely keep salaries high and slow down the digital development in Europe and prevent small and medium size companies to compete in the global economy, said the head of cabinet for EU Information Society Commissioner Neelie Kroes yesterday (4 May). 

Romanian President Traian Basescu has criticised the European Commission's proposed ten-year economic strategy for lacking commitments to pursuing the EU's goal of bridging regional development gaps and promoting "unattainable" targets, such as allocating 3% of GDP to research and development. EurActiv Romania reports.

Business leaders and trade groups put forward various models for an EU industrial policy during an event organised by the Confrontations Europe think-tank in Strasbourg this month. EurActiv France reports.

The EU's new flagship initiative for boosting growth and employment in Europe is surprisingly similar to the failed Lisbon Strategy, according to Klaus Klipp, general secretary of the Assembly of European Regions (AER). 

New Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov is instilling an atmosphere of fear among society in governing the country that is reminiscent of Stalinism, his Socialist predecessor, Sergey Stanishev, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.