The Hague, 01/07/2004 (Agence Europe) - Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in The Hague, Dutch European Affairs Minister Atzo Nicolai said the Dutch wanted to use their Presidency to focus on issues that are really important to people, and one of the priorities of citizens is clearly employment. For this reason, economic growth and the Lisbon Strategy will be important, not discussing the targets of the Lisbon Strategy (which would be a real waste of time) but actually implementing the measures and approaches decided upon in the past. We must take concrete measures to make concrete changes and prepare for the mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy in Spring 2005 under the Luxembourg Presidency, said Nicolai. Implementing decisions is the national responsibility of Member States, rather than a European responsibility, hence the importance of continually reminding Member States of their responsibly to translate their good intentions into practical action, said Nicolaï. The working group chaired by Wim Kok will unveil its report in October, along with recommendations on the future review of the Strategy. I greatly hope the report will suggest new tools, resources and impulses to deal with the issue (of not applying the decisions that have been taken) said Nicolaï, hinting that he favours naming and shaming countries lagging behind in the implementation of decisions. Once the Kok Report is available, the relevant Council formations will be urged to hold initial discussions before the European Council of 5 November, which will hold a general, preparatory debate ahead of the Spring Summit 2005.
What concrete measures does the Dutch Presidency have in mind to make progress in the Lisbon Strategy? Nicolaï mentioned a series - cutting administrative and legislative costs for business, finishing the action plan on financial services, adopting new legislation for chemicals (REACH), completing the common market in general and more specifically in areas that generate jobs and economic growth (like services), and structural reforms in the social domains covered by the Lisbon Strategy. The Presidency also plans to resolve the issues of the European patent, aware that it will be very difficult to achieve this in the next six months after the failure of many other Presidencies.
In terms of cutting admin charges for business (see the comments of finance minister Gerrit Zalm above), the Dutch Presidency wants to introduce a successful mechanism at EU level that already exists in the Netherlands, namely a system for assessing the impact and calculating the costs of all new legislation on business. Business itself should have the option of contributing to this and expressing its views. Alongside this specific plan, the Dutch Presidency may also cooperate with the European Commission to ensure progress in deregulating generally, simplifying and abolishing EU legislation whose administrative demands are a burden on business but are not really essential.