Brussels, 26/01/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission's progress report on the Lisbon Strategy did not receive a unanimous welcome from MEPs (EUROPE 9117).
In the EPP-ED Group, CSU elected member Alexander Radwan admits he would have liked to see “a bolder approach” by the Commission. He slams the Commission for having given up comparing Member State reform programmes. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, in the Socialist Group and President of the Party of European Socialists, noted that the “mixture of reform, investment and flexicurity” put forward by the European Commission looks “social democratic” and “inspired by the Nordic successes of the 1990s”. He regrets to say, however, that he sees “more emphasis on flexibility and adaptability than on opportunities for all”. The former prime minister of Denmark therefore urges governments to adopt a flexicurity approach that is more aware of citizens' needs. The president of the Socialist Group, Martin Schulz, also felt the report shows “a shift in the Commission's approach”, saying: “The Commission is showing new willingness to draw on European models of excellence, above all in the Nordic countries”. Nonetheless, the German Social Democrat considers that the “missing link is still a coordinated European investment strategy to maximise the potential for job creation”. The Austrian vice-president of the group, Hannes Swoboda, who took part in the meeting of the Conference of Presidents on Wednesday with Messrs Barroso and Verheugen, also says “public investment is needed, including from the EU budget, as well as urgent measures to facilitate private investment”. French vice-president of the group, Harlem Désir, places emphasis on job creation in order, he says, to “guarantee decent earnings”. Luxembourg Vice-President Robert Goebbels called for the abolition of “useless bureaucracy” which mainly hampers small and medium-sized enterprise. The judgement of the Greens/EFA Group is clearly more negative. Co-President Monica Frassoni, who also attended the meeting with the president and the vice-president of the Commission, deplores the fact that, apart from proposals on liberalisation, the Commission is having a hard time finding ideas on European policies. It seems, she says, to have given up the idea of being the driving force of a socially balanced, sustainable, cohesive and prosperous Europe. The Italian Green member points out that her group shares the aims of job creation, innovation and modernisation, but that it disagrees with the instruments put forward by the Commission and that it calls for an integrated strategy combining economic, social and environment objectives.