Reform relaunch by EU likely to fall flat

[Menydh]

Reform relaunch by EU likely to fall flat

Financial Times
March 15, 2005

The European Union's economic reform relaunch next week looks set to fall flat, its liberal message blurred by France and other countries and its impact overshadowed by a row over the EU's fiscal rules.

The long-awaited revamp of the EU's 10-year Lisbon agenda for economic reform was supposed to have been the centrepiece of next week's EU economic summit.

But a draft of the summit communiqué confirms the extent to which haggling by member states has created a bloated text that diverts attention from the European Commission's desire to focus on "growth and jobs".

According to EU diplomats, France, Belgium, Sweden, Slovenia and Cyprus have been among those who have injected into the communiqué strong commitments to Europe's social model and environmental objectives.

"We have been busy planting flowers to keep the French happy, and we've ended up with a real jardin," said one.

With a French referendum on the EU constitution looming on May 29, Paris has been determined to allay fears Brussels is bent on an Anglo-Saxon economic agenda. Sweden has insisted that the EU must step up efforts to develop green technology, which it believes can give Europe a global advantage.

The end result, according to British diplomats, is that the Lisbon agenda remains a "Christmas tree", with numerous objectives attached to its central aims.

Wim Kok, the former Dutch prime minister who last year wrote a report for the EU on the failures of the Lisbon strategy, complained: "Lisbon is about everything, and thus about nothing."

The Brussels summit on March 22-23 was supposed to focus on reviewing and simplifying the five-year-old Lisbon strategy, devised in 2000 to make Europe the world's most competitive economy by 2010.

The draft by the Luxembourg presidency and dated March 14, is so bland EU leaders are not even scheduled to have a full debate on its contents at the summit. A final text is to be agreed today by foreign ministers.

Instead the summit will be dominated by a debate among heads of government on a deal to revise the stability and growth pact, the rules underpinning the euro. Luxembourg officials insist the Lisbon relaunch will produce concrete results, including requiring member states to publish three-year plans for economic reform.

The aim would be for national parliaments to scrutinise the implementation of the plans, along with the European Commisison.

The draft contains no reference to the 2010 target - now seen as hopelessly unrealistic - although it keeps the commitment to raise research and development spending to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by that date. It also includes calls for more flexible labour markets, help for business start-ups, and more access to risk capital.

But the pro-business message is balanced by sections on measures to reconcile family and work life, child care and the importance of public services. Bio-diversity, sustainable development and energy efficiency are also listed as priorities.



[source]