Commission hails EU reform progress, calls for more

Despite much-improved results over the past two years, EU governments will have to focus more on “investing in people” and “unlocking SMEs’ business potential” in the next three years if they are to cope with the competitive challenge of globalisation, the Commission has said.

EU policies to boost jobs and growth in the 27 member states – the so-called Lisbon Strategy – are finally paying off, according to a report, published by the Commission on 11 December 2007, which will be delivered to Heads of State and Government when they meet for their annual Spring economic summit in March 2008. 

Economic growth jumped from 1.8% in 2005 to 3% in 2006 and employment rates reached 66% – close to the Lisbon target of 70%. 

The report, however, underlines that “not all member states have undertaken reforms with equal determination” and that reforms in some areas, such as opening up energy and services markets and tackling labour market segmentation, have lagged behind. 

It suggests that governments should continue on the same path they have been following so far but with a special focus on a few “high-impact actions”, including: 

• Connecting at least 30% of the EU population and all schools to high-speed internet by 2010; 
• improving basic learning skills, such as reading; setting targets to reduce early-school leaving; and; adapting school curricula in accordance with constant monitoring of companies’ skills requirements; 
• increasing availability and affordability of quality childcare; 
• adopting the Commission’s “blue card” proposal for a skills-based immigration policy (EURACTIV 24/10/07);
• fostering SME growth by pushing through a comprehensive “Small Business Act“, aimed at cutting red tape, increasing SMEs’ access to European programmes and public procurement, and reducing barriers to cross-border activity through the creation of a European small company statute (EURACTIV 15/05/07). 
• encouraging innovation by agreeing on an integrated patent  jurisdiction and a single affordable patent; 
• facilitating the exchange of researchers with the introduction of a “researcher passport“; and; 
• completing the internal market for energy, including setting mandatory energy reduction targets for government buildings and systematically including energy efficiency as the one of the award criteria for public procurement. 

Read more with Euractiv

Interview: 'We need a revolution in science culture'

Scientists cannot continue living in their own world and need to formulate new research questions together with citizens to tackle global challenges, argues researcher Marie-Claude Roland.