Tag: Lisbon strategy

As the Greek debt crisis continues to haunt the euro zone, EU leaders are meeting this week (25-26 March) to agree closer coordination of their economic policies, according to draft summit conclusions obtained by EurActiv.

Realistic targets, shared commitments and scientific education are the three ingredients which Wim Philippa, secretary-general of the European Round Table of Industrialists, believes are needed to make the EU fit for the challenges which lie ahead.

German Economy Minister Rainer Brüderle reacted negatively against what he described as plans by the Spanish EU Presidency to "sanction" member states who do not comply with the European Union's growth objectives. EurActiv Spain reports.

"The EU needs new thinking. After eight years of stop-start negotiations, the Union finally has a new rulebook, the Lisbon Treaty. But, despite Europeans' shared anxieties about economic growth, government debt, the stability of the euro, immigration and the environment, there is not yet a clear sense of what the EU's priorities for the next five years should or will be," writes Hugo Brady, senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, in a December commentary.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso this week (16 December) faced accusations from MEPs that his draft EU 2020 strategy for economic and environmental renewal lacked a sufficient social dimension.

The EU's 2020 strategy to build a sustainable future beyond the current economic crisis is too short-termist and fails to address the fundamental problems of the current growth model, Philippe Herzog, founder of the Confrontations Europe think-tank, told EurActiv in an interview.

"As longevity and access to education improve around the globe, Europe can no longer count on a large lead in scientific know-how, education and innovation to give us an automatic edge on the rest of the world," writes Paul Hofheinz, president of the Lisbon Council, in a December paper.

The European Union hailed the start of a new era on Tuesday (1 December) after its Lisbon reform treaty went into force, carrying with it the bloc's hopes of becoming a more powerful force on the world stage.

Plans for a new ten-year strategy to replace the Lisbon Agenda for growth and jobs, due to be unveiled by the European Commission today (24 November), risk being agreed behind closed doors between member states without proper consultation of civil society, social NGOs have warned.

A special European Parliament committee set up to advise the EU on the road to economic recovery should have different priorities to those of the European institutions, its rapporteur insists. The committee needs a long-term view to tackle global imbalances, unemployment and the EU's role in global governance, French Socialist MEP Pervenche Berès told EurActiv in an interview.

The European Commission has given its starkest warning yet that member states need to have their exit strategies ready for deployment now, as member states face the double burden of ageing populations and a heady deterioration of government accounts.

A consultation of European local authorities and cities has revealed strong criticism of the way the Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs has been implemented across the 27 member states of the European Union. Christine Chapman, rapporteur on the consultation for the Committee of the Regions, spoke to EurActiv in an interview.

José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, has outlined his strategy to dig the EU out of recession if he wins the European Parliament's approval for a second consecutive term.

The Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs, the European Commission’s flagship policy agenda for the past five years, has a "branding problem" and needs to be revisited, according to a top EU official.

"Rather than a wholesale dismissal of all the efforts that have been made to date, we would be well advised to focus our attention on constructive input, actionable ideas and sound improvements" to the Lisbon Agenda, writes Ann Mettler, executive director and co-founder of the Lisbon Council, in a March blog post.

"Creating the next framework for structural reform in Europe right now is a priority – and a challenge EU leaders must take up," write Hans Martens and Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive, and Fabian Zuleeg, a Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre in a May paper.

Revamping the public sector should be central to Europe's new strategy for growth and jobs which is currently being drafted, according to Hans Martens, chief executive of the European Policy Centre.

Felipe González, chairman of a reflection group on the future of Europe, recognised yesterday (24 March) that the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, launched in 2000 with the objective of transforming the Union into the world's most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010, has failed.

Anna Diamantopoulou, a former EU social affairs commissioner, has warned EU leaders against protectionist rhetoric ahead of an EU summit on 1 March that is due to address the worsening economic recession. She spoke to EurActiv in an interview.

EU industry ministers yesterday (1 December) approved the Small Business Act (SBA), accompanied by an action plan to alleviate the immediate effects of the current economic crisis.

Although European labour markets continued to recover in 2007, employment rates across Europe are still a long way short of the targets the EU set itself via the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs in 2000. Workers aged over 55 continue to face the greatest difficulties, new data reveals.

The EU is running the risk of putting its growth and jobs efforts on the backburner over the rescue mission for the Lisbon Treaty, British MEP Graham Watson, the leader of the ALDE faction in the European Parliament, warned in an interview with EurActiv.

EU countries are not investing enough in childcare, according to a joint letter from European businesses, SMEs and trade union organisations, despite its benefits for employment and growth.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are key to reverting the negative effects of globalisation on the job market. They were behind a successful project launched two years ago to help the suffering textile sector in Portugal and have been renewed and extended to other industries.