Coming back to earth. Now is the time to come back down to earth. In the weeks leading up to the Lisbon Summit, the leaders of Europe - the political authorities but also the social partners - were travelling in a land whose name has been known to our civilisation for centuries - Utopia. We have all, to a greater or lesser extent, taken part in this journey, as we were convinced that Europe was finally going to define its economic strategy combining freedom of initiative and "American-style" dynamism with the social model forged by two centuries of struggle, something that one should definitely not forget.
We have the strategy, and everything is beginning. The heads of government are aware of this, and they have foreseen an annual venue for following the development of the process each spring, as well as results achieved and possible corrections to be made. One positive thing is that the main political tendencies were all able to see their reflection in the strategy defined in Lisbon, so that the dogmatic differences were not so obvious: the Liberals were able to stress the liberal guideline of the project, the "people's" parties recalled that social inspiration and economic policy derive directly from the "Luxembourg process" that they had initiated and supported, and the Socialists welcome the open safeguarding of the European model. There are hidden meanings and innuendoes, each one placing emphasis where preferences lie, which is quite normal. But despite their efforts, which become almost caricatured to stress the differences, the European political parties must admit that the Lisbon strategy is the result of an effort to bring about rapprochement, which has lasted several years, the "European track" taking a little from everyone. The signatures under the proposal are eloquent in themselves: the godfathers are first and foremost Antonio Guterres, Tony Blair and José Maria Aznar, who belong to different and rival European political parties, supported by Romano Prodi, who, when he was Prime Minister, had achieved the exploit of taking part in EPP and Socialist summits at the same time. This multiple birth of the Lisbon strategy allows one to hope that the future electoral ups and downs, and the changes of majorities which will inevitably come about, will not compromise accomplishment. In national implementations, certain emphasis may be placed on different things, but the general inspiration should be maintained over the years, as the essential targets are for the horizon 2010, and include full employment, an employment rate close to 70%, and single markets fully achieved in all sectors (even if some intermediary, and sometimes very close, goals are also fundamental).
If we all wait for someone else to make an effort … The Utopia aspect lies in certain affirmations of principle (Europe will be the most dynamic and competitive economy worldwide in just a few years) or in certain targets set (rate of growth 3% for ten years, rate of employment above 70%), which could give the impression that the definition of the strategy coincides with its success. We have the recipe, and the results will come. The outlook is rosy. It is all well and good to be ambitious and optimistic on condition that we are aware of the enormous difficulties that lie ahead and of the fact that some there will inevitably be some enormous disappointments also, as the results will partially depend on changes of mentality and habits which are not yet obvious everywhere. For the time being, each category gives the impression it is waiting for the effort to be made by the others first: the employers are already calling for additional relaxing of the labour market rules; several trade unions refuse to allow retirement systems to be touched; and some political movements would like to bring the "Maastricht criteria" into question. In addition, certain elements of the Lisbon strategy have not yet been clarified: for example, the European regime of "general interest services" is still highly controversial even in its principles.
Now that they have decided that they, themselves, will play the role of coordination and direction, the heads of state and government should very seriously ensure the balance and coherence of the whole, and the requirement that everyone pulls his weight. The Commission and the specialised Councils should fully commit themselves to this undertaking. The authorities and national social partners should transfer and reflect all this at national level in an effective way. Failing this, the strategy would be a failure.
Ferdinando Riccardi