Unravelling the tangle” “

The European “institutional triangle” is trying to unravel the tangle of problems linked to EU economic competitiveness, with which the questions of employment and social cohesion in the 25 member states are linked. In Brussels and Strasbourg people are arguing as if enlargement to the East has already taken place. Yet the approaching deadline of 1st May makes it impossible to delay some reforms, re-launch Community policies and approve the EU Constitution. A EUROPEAN COUNCIL DEDICATED TO THE “LISBON STRATEGY”. Parliament, Commission and Council of the EU have jointly tackled in recent days the issues that will be on the agenda of the summit in the Belgian capital on 25/26 March, under the current Irish Presidency. Intervening in the EP on behalf of the Council, Irish minister DICK ROCHE declared that “the Irish Presidency considers the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy a priority of its programme. We are in fact at the halfway stage in the process that will lead us to 2010 (the deadline fixed for turning the Union into the region with the most competitive economy in the world, founded on knowledge, sustainability and quality of work). Although much progress has been made in terms of energy liberalization, the internal market and financial services, there still remains a lot to be done”. The Council will thus have to “transmit a message of confidence, to demonstrate the existence of a common political will to undertake the reforms”. Roche then reaffirmed the two “major priorities for the six months’ Irish Presidency: sustainable development and the creation of many better quality jobs. We need to increase the competitiveness of our economy – he said – to tackle the global challenges; to this end our efforts will need to be concentrated especially on financial services and the tertiary sector”. The Irish Presidency also emphasised the urgent need to close the gap with the USA and Japan in terms of investments in “human capital”. INVESTIMENTS IN RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION. The Commission, for its part, insists on the need courageously to embark on the way of development and reforms: this implies a growth of the resources available for Community policies in the fields of education and research. The Executive maintains that the transfers of member states to Brussels must be increased from the current 1% of GDP to 1.14% in the next decade. Various capitals oppose the proposal. PEDRO SOLBES, the Commissioner responsible for monetary and financial questions, has spelt out three objectives for the realization of the “Lisbon Strategy”: “First, we must invest 3% of our total GDP on research, development, infrastructures and innovation. The gap that separates us from the most advanced countries must be closed, and we also need to help the economic systems of the new member states to take off”, still very backward in terms of the EU average. “Second – said Solbes – it’s essential to restore competitiveness to small and medium businesses” (the same issue was repeatedly stressed, together with that of job creation, during the debate in the EP on Wednesday 25 February). “Third, we must create incentives to prolong working life, so as to postpone recourse to pensions”. The Commission has long linked economic development to the reform of welfare systems in the 25. “We cannot defer these decisions – added Solbes – and we need an overall economic governance, because the challenges of the world economy cannot be supported by the individual states”. PRIORITY ATTENTION TO THE “HUMAN FACTOR”. A passionate appeal was made by the Commissioner for education and culture, VIVIANE REDING. “The human and social dimension of the Lisbon Strategy cannot be ignored. Uppermost in our thoughts must be employment, the training of the young, and the exploitation of human resources. So let us change course: we need to increase the average length of studies, also by developing more modern and effective educational systems; investments in research, both public and private, need to be increased, and the key role of the universities re-launched, with concrete forms of support”. But only last Wednesday Eurostat published the results of a survey that show a serious shortfall in investments on research: barely 2% of GDP is currently reached in the EU today. At the bottom of the league table are Italy (1.07%), Portugal (0.84) and Greece (0.67). Sweden (4.67%) is in first place, followed by Finland, Germany and France. In the ten new EU members average investments do not reach 1% of GDP.