Barroso aims for great leap forward with five-year plan

By Martin Banks

Date: 20/01/05

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, will on Wednesday (26 January) present his strategic objectives for the next five years to the European Parliament, promising to combine the quest for greater prosperity with social solidarity.

The heads of the private offices of the 25 European commissioners were meeting today (20 January) to discuss the programme but major changes to the draft are not expected.

Once it is agreed by next Wednesday's meeting of commissioners, Barroso will present it to the Parliament, which meets for a two-day plenary session in Brussels next week, along with his work programme for 2005.

The strategic objectives document is Barroso's most important attempt so far to lay out his ambitions. But the draft still stresses continuity with the previous administration, which was presided over by Romano Prodi.

It is split into four main chapters: prosperity, solidarity, security and freedom, and the EU's role in the world.

One senior Commission official said the president's mark on the document was "quite visible".

"His [Barroso's] philosophy that Europe's biggest problem at the moment is a lack of economic growth and that we should concentrate on this goal in the short term is quite recognisable, although it is balanced by an acknowledgement of the need for sustainable development," he said.

"Also, there is a paragraph in the programme on the EU's maritime policy. That's also rather clearly the Portuguese's mark, it is one of his pet ideas," he added.

Barroso's advisers also put great emphasis on the degree of consultation that underpins the programme and will inform its implementation.

The president wants the various EU institutions to work more closely together to co-ordinate their priorities and direction.

And Barroso will also declare his commitment to a "high degree" of consultation with civil society organisations, national parliaments, stakeholders and EU citizens before policies are finalised.

"The programme will say that the EU needs to look at improving policy-making by engaging in broader consultation. Barroso believes there is extra value to be gained in talking more with our social partners.

"It is this firm commitment to a new, shared approach with, amongst others, ordinary citizens which, arguably, sets this Commission apart from its predecessors," said a Commission official.

The programme will emphasise growth, productivity and innovation, calling for labour markets to be adapted to enhance much-needed job creation. But it will argue that the focus on growth is needed to secure Europe's social cohesion.

The document calls for Europe to play a "stronger" role on the world stage and sets out how policy-making can work in an enlarged EU.

The draft document runs to 13 pages in its English version. One Commission insider suggested that an opportunity was being missed to produce a shorter, punchier, three-page statement on the work of the Barroso Commission. "It would have been more intelligent to have a manifesto to mobilise people and ideas," he said.

Anticipation of the European Commission's 5-year strategic objectives which was to be presented to the European Parliament on 26 January 2005.