Brussels, 11/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - The new 2008-2010 cycle of the Lisbon strategy, to be launched at the European Council on 13-14 March in Brussels, is an “excellent” package, says Professor Maria Joao Rodrigues, the European Union's special advisor on the Lisbon agenda for growth and employment. In order to contribute to discussion between the EU heads of state and government on this new series of discussions, various reports have been forwarded to the European Council including those by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Committee of the Regions (CoR). Ms Rodrigues, who was the initiator of the Lisbon strategy, put forward the report presenting the results of the EU Portuguese Presidency on preparation for the new cycle of the Lisbon agenda.
The report takes up the conclusions of 16 meetings (formal and informal) of the EU Council in its Ecofin, competitiveness, employment, education, environment and transport formations. Meetings conducted with parliamentary committees, the EESC and the CoR as well as some 30 workshops and conferences have contributed to the work of the Portuguese EU Council Presidency in this field. The informal European Council of Lisbon and the formal December meeting in Brussels naturally played a pivotal role, writes Professor Rodrigues in her preface to the report that she presented and commented on 8 February in Brussels during the conference organised by the Lisbon strategy group of the EESC (EUROPE 9599). Further to this presidential work, Ms Rodrigues summed up saying one could reach the conclusion that: “If the Lisbon strategy has a future, then Europe has a future”.
Speaking to the EESC Lisbon Strategy Group, Ms Rodrigues highlighted the four priority sectors for the future of the strategy. These are: (1) research and development and innovation; (2) an adequate environment for enterprise; (3) investment in human resources; and (4) the energy/climate package. She placed emphasis on the external dimension of Lisbon strategy, saying: “All our leaders have been clear and straightforward: globalisation is here. It is our biggest challenge but it is also our biggest opportunity. For Europe, it is no longer enough to respond to globalisation. We must shape it. An external dimension is needed. We must be able to work with our strategic partners. New and better rules are needed when it comes to legislation on intellectual property, the social dimension and the environmental dimension in order to format this external dimension”. Ms Maria Joao Rodrigues added: “This is vital”. She went on to conclude: “This allows our own agenda to be upheld, to work with the civil society of other countries such as India, China and others, to share our experience for a complete agenda on the environment and to set our networks in motion”. For the EESC contribution and debates at the European Council of 13-14 March, see EUROPE 9599. (G.B.)