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The spring European Council (8-9March) is meant to give a boost to the European economy. When EU leaders met in Lisbon in March 2000, they agreed that "the European Council will hold a meeting every spring devoted to economic and social questions".
But the Lisbon Agenda of economic reform that was launched in 2000 has lost momentum. Subsequent presidencies of the Council have struggled to make the spring summit meaningful and to avoid repeating a litany of unfulfilled policy ambitions.
Germany, the current holder of the presidency, wants EU leaders to sign up to an ambitious action plan to create an effective single market.
"There are…a broad variety of issues," said a Berlin official. "One of the highlights is the internal market and reducing red tape."
The German government will be throwing its weight behind targets proposed in November by Günter Verheugen, the European commissioner for enterprise and industry, to reduce the regulatory burden. Verheugen’s proposal to lower the administrative burden for EU companies by 25% over the next five years is set to be approved.
There is disagreement between member states about whether Charlie McCreevy, the internal market commissioner, should try to break the 20-year deadlock on a community patent. Failure to reach agreement has been a leitmotiv of the Lisbon Agenda. Intellectual property issues at international level will also be addressed. The number of counterfeit goods intercepted at Europe’s borders has risen by 1,000% over the past ten years. Pressure for reform will be piled on countries such as China, which alone accounts for more than half of goods intercepted at EU borders. The trade in counterfeit goods is now worth billions of euros internationally.
Leaders will be urged to push for increased private sector investment in research and development activities so as to hit Lisbon Agenda targets equivalent to 3% of gross domestic product by 2010. The presidency will also be supporting efforts to reduce the EU’s implementation deficit, or the percentage of EU laws in force not yet passed into national law by member states.
What they want
- When it comes to financial services, the challenge for EU leaders is simple: ensure a business environment across all member states that allows the EU to remain a major global economic force. For that, we need an efficient single market. New York has recently highlighted the UK’s regulatory regime as contributing to the City’s successful formula and it is time for EU leaders to simplify existing European regulation and strengthen the regulatory framework. For me, proportionate regulation is the key that tackles the problems existing in the market place without creating unnecessary burdens for business.
Michael Snyder, chairman of the Corporation of London’s policy and resources committee
- The European Commission has set promising targets and goals to simplify existing legislation and to reduce the administrative burdens in Europe. If those were achieved, hundreds of billions of euros could be saved annually. This would contribute heavily to reinforce the European economy. As most of the efforts have to be done at national level, the upcoming spring summit should endorse the proposal by the Commission to measure the administrative costs of national legislation and to commit itself to a reduction of administrative burdens by 25% in 2012. If this is not the case, companies will not benefit from a real alleviation.
Philippe de Buck, secretary-general of employers’ lobby BusinessEurope
- Small businesses are not high on the agenda of the German presidency of the EU. No new SME-specific initiatives were suggested in my home country’s work programme. The least we can expect is therefore progress on "blocked" dossiers, such as the European patent system. The current state of affairs on IP [intellectual property] protection in Europe thwarts our innovation potential and the lack of a fully fledged European patent system means that up to 80% of SMEs’ current R&D investments are lost. I do hope that Germany will act to lift the patent agenda out of the limbo and find workable solutions on this dossier.
Hans-Werner Müller, secretary-general of UEAPME, a lobby representing small- and medium-sized enterprises
- As in previous years, EU leaders will probably focus mostly on technical issues, but they should do more in the political arena. The summit receives much press attention; it is a good moment to raise awareness of important challenges we face - namely, the economic and social effects of an ageing population, the need to create more jobs (particularly for immigrants, women and the young) and the over-riding imperative of investing in education and skills. Concretely, I hope the European Council will agree on more competition in energy markets. That would give consumers more choice and benefit the environment.
Paul Hofheinz, president of The Lisbon Council, a think-tank
- The European Council meeting should focus on the most important issues for the future of Europe, namely the labour force (and its competence) and ‘flexicurity’. The competence of European workers is of fundamental importance for the future competitiveness of the European Union. Moreover, the Council has to discuss how to create a sense of safety and security on the labour market in facing the challenge of structural change, as a consequence of globalisation and more open markets. The change is inevitable, but the European workers and companies can only embrace it if they feel secure.
Jan Andersson, chairman of the European Parliament’s committee on employment and social affairs
- The German presidency should achieve the establishment of the Single European Payment Area. This technical project will have many practical consequences. Germany also intends to engage in discussions on hedge funds and supervision of financial markets. On this point, further initiatives will probably have to be taken by the future French presidency. Furthermore, we fully support the German presidency in its efforts towards the definition of a common consolidated corporate tax base. But on economic policy co-ordination, the presidency still appears to be in favour of a smooth co-ordination of economic policies. We must convince them to reinforce the Eurogroup, to provide a better balance between economic and monetary policies and a stronger expression of the euro on the international scene.
Pervenche Berès, chairwoman of the European Parliament’s committee on economic and monetary affairs
The spring European Council (8-9March) is meant to give a boost to the European economy. When EU leaders met in Lisbon in March 2000, they agreed that "the European Council will hold a meeting every spring devoted to economic and social questions".
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