European Council, Brussels, 20-21 March 2003

The third Annual Spring Meeting of the European Council took place in Brussels on 20-21 March 2003. Intended to discuss the economic, social and environmental situation in the European Union, the meeting was overshadowed by disagreements between Member States over the Iraq crisis.

The Spring meetings of the European Council were initiated to provide leaders with the opportunity to direct the Union in its bid to meet the objective set at the March 2000 Lisbon European Council of making the EU 'the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion' by 2010.

European Commission President Romano Prodi said: 'Against the backdrop of war, any discussion of the Lisbon strategy may appear at first sight a luxury, even slightly out of place. But it is not. In a climate of global uncertainty, flagging business confidence and stubborn unemployment, pushing forward with the agreed Lisbon reforms has never been more relevant and vital.'

'Growth, jobs and prosperity in Our Europe' (Part I of the Presidency Conclusions issued after the Brussels European Council) noted that the Union 'is currently facing ... a slowdown in growth and job creation. Economic uncertainties and global political risks weigh heavily on the short-term outlook and have delayed a recovery. This makes it all the more essential to increase the capacity of our economies to grow, through sound macroeconomic policies and purposeful structural reforms.' Leaders stressed that there has been progress towards meeting the goals set at the Lisbon European Council, with five million new jobs having been created (half a million in 2002), but they also highlighted the need to do more, and agreed a number of priorities intended to promote the Lisbon reforms:

• raising employment and social cohesion
• giving priority to innovation and entrepreneurship
• connecting Europe strengthening the internal market [sic]
• environmental protection for growth and jobs

Participants also declared they had:

• set the direction for the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines and the revised European Employment Strategy to be adopted in June
• invited the Commission to establish a European Employment Task Force to help identify practical reforms that can have the most direct and immediate impact on the implementation by Member States of the revised Employment Strategy
• identified key labour market reforms to be pursued at national level
• launched action to strengthen the Union's support for knowledge, innovation, and entrepreneurship in order to place competitiveness centre stage
• set deadlines for final agreement on remaining Lisbon reforms in key areas ahead of next year's Spring European Council: railways, energy markets, a Single European Sky, financial markets (including take-over bids), procurement markets, the information society, temporary agency work, cross-border social security rules, energy taxation, liability for environmental damage and climate change
• provided a comprehensive response on maritime safety in the aftermath of the Prestige disaster
• renewed its commitment to stronger cohesion across the Union and the Union's leadership in promoting sustainable development around the world

Part II of the Presidency Conclusions provided further details of these actions, which are to be implemented over the forthcoming 12 months.

Participants also discussed a number of international issues, including the Middle East (with reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Summit reiterated the Union's 'full support for the international community's vision of two States living side by side in peace and security, on the basis of the 1967 borders), the Western Balkans (leaders expressed support for the new Prime Minister of Serbia, Zoran Zivkovic), Cyprus and North Korea.

The Financial Times commented that 'The next few weeks may reveal whether the Brussels summit will be remembered as the moment when the EU started to come back together.'

The European Council meeting was preceded by the inaugural meeting of the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment, intended to strengthen contacts between the EU institutions and the social partners on economic and social policies. Following the 'Social Summit', the Greek Prime Minister, Costas Simitis, said it represented 'a real milestone for the European social dialogue. For the first time, the Tripartite Social Summit has been put on a formal footing in line with the wishes of all the key actors involved in the social dialogue at European level.'

Links:

European Commission:
	European Council, Brussels, 21 March 2003
	21.03.03:	Brussels European Council 20 and 21 March 2003 Presidency Conclusions [DOC/03/2]
	20.03.03:	Anna Diamantopoulou: The social partners and the Lisbon strategy [SPEECH/03/144]
	20.03.03:	Greek Presidency and Commission launch first 'Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment' [IP/03/415]
Council of the European Union:
	Presidency Conclusions: Brussels European Council, 20 and 21 March 2003
	The European Council
Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU:
	20.03.03:	Spring European Council 2003: Tripartite Social Summit, press conference
	21.03.03:	Spring European Council 2003: Decision taken to set up a European Employment Taskforce; Wim Kok nominated as president
BBC News Online:
	23.03.03:	EU calls for modernisation
European Sources Online: Financial Times:
	21.03.03:	Embittered partners struggle for reconciliation
	21.03.02:	Blair puts brave face on EU differences

Eric Davies
Researcher
Compiled: Monday, 24 March 2003

The third Annual Spring Meeting of the European Council took place in Brussels on 20-21 March 2003. Intended to discuss the economic, social and environmental situation in the European Union, the meeting was overshadowed by disagreements between Member States over the Iraq crisis.