"The Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment has hugely boosted the economic reforms in Europe. Especially since it has been revived in 2005, it has delivered tangible results". However "we should not lower the guard": the challenges of globalisation and the uncertainty" of the world markets "do not allow us to relax". Janez Jansa, Slovenian Prime Minister and current President of the EU Council, has been insisting for some time on these subjects, which he also repeated in the letter of invitation to the other 26 heads of state and government of the EU, in the run-up to the Spring summit. The meeting will be held in Brussels today and tomorrow: it will begin in the afternoon with a discussion between the leaders of the member states and the president of the European Parliament, and will go on with a session focussed on the national plans of the Lisbon Strategy and the issues of energy and climate change. In the evening, the discussion will focus on financial stability and the French proposal for a Mediterranean Union. Tomorrow morning, the leaders will mostly concentrate on drawing up the final document of the summit. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs, in a separate session, will deal instead with the situation in Afghanistan.
