Brussels, 27/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - Christoph Leitl, President of Eurochambres, the association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, came out firmly against any postponement of the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy last Friday. “Instead of discussing the extension of the deadline, all actors at European and national levels must focus on how to catch up in the remaining 5 years”, said Christoph Leitl at a press conference. The Eurochambres president suggested that a permanent high-level expert group should be set up, drawing its inspiration from the Wim Kok group on the Lisbon strategy.
At the press conference, Christoph Leitl welcomed the configuration of the Barroso Commission and the President's personal commitments in favour of competitiveness. He also welcomed the creation of the post of Commissioner with responsibility for the communication strategy. He reminded the Swedish Commissioner, Margot Wallström, who is to take on this responsibility, that Eurochambres supports the European Constitution and would like to see a pan-European awareness campaign about the Constitution, to get the message across to citizens and business. “A failure would be dramatically harmful to market confidence and would have negative effects on the economy”, said Mr Leitl, who is also the President of the Austrian federal economic chamber.