MEP attacks ‘letterbox diplomacy’ efforts to rejuvenate EU economy

Date: 13/02/03

By Martin Banks

AN ATTEMPT by the EU's three biggest members to breathe new life into the bloc's ailing economy has been branded as "another round in letterbox diplomacy".

France, Germany and the UK have written to Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, urging more effort to achieve job creation and growth in Europe. The letter comes ahead of the Brussels summit on 21 and 22 March when EU leaders will focus on their lack of success in meeting targets set at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000.

Lisbon called for the EU to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010 and to increase the employment rate from 63 to 70.

The letter issued by three nations was attacked by Graham Watson, leader of the Liberal group in the European Parliament, who said its content was ironic given the lack of progress in job creation and growth in France, Germany and the UK.

He branded it as "another round in letterbox diplomacy" - a reference to the recent letters signed by eight European countries and the 'Vilnius ten' in support of the US over the Iraq crisis.

Watson said: "We are now three years into a ten-year programme set by the Lisbon summit and, far from seeing the hoped-for considerable progress in job creation and growth, all we see is stagnation in the EU economy.

"It seems to me that the EU is looking weaker today than it has for a number of years. It is particularly unfortunate that it is failing to make progress on the economic front.

"You would think that the current disarray in its foreign policy would put more pressure on member states to ensure that progress is made on the economic front but we seem to be suffering an incapacity of leadership."

His concerns about the Lisbon targets echoed earlier comments by Anna Diamantopoulou, the employment commissioner.

She said the EU was still a "long way" from meeting its goals for tackling joblessness.

She called on the European Central Bank to take a more "pro-active" role in helping the bloc meet the targets.

The Union still needed to create 15 million new jobs and remains some way off achieving its employment targets for people over the age of 55, she said.

An attempt by the EU's three biggest members to breathe new life into the bloc's ailing economy has been branded as 'another round in letterbox diplomacy'. France, Germany and the UK have written to Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, urging more effort to achieve job creation and growth in Europe.