Brussels, 06/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is to hold a hearing in Brussels on 9 and 10 September, with the national economic and social councils and European organisations, on the subject "Effective implementation of the Lisbon Strategy". This hearing is further to the request made on 25 and 26 March by the European Council, which called upon the EESC to look at how the implementation of the Lisbon strategy could be improved. It comes as part of the mid-term review of the strategy. The working sessions will focus on: 1) the improved competitiveness of businesses in Europe; 2) the development of the European social model and sustainable development; 3) the improvement of the implementation of EU policies.
The EESC's drafting group is putting together an opinion on the subject for the end of October, in light of the deadline set by the European Summit for contributions to the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy, anticipated for the 2005 Spring Summit. This group is made up of Bruno Vever (employers, France), Ernst Erik Ehnmark (employees, Sweden) and John Simpson (various interests, UK).