Author (Person) | Thomson, Ian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Series Title | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publication Date | 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In March 2000, the European Council in Lisbon set out a ten-year strategy to make the EU the world's most dynamic and competitive economy. Under the strategy, a stronger economy would drive job creation alongside social and environmental policies that ensure sustainable development and social inclusion. Amidst a growing realisation that progress on implementing the strategy was faltering the European Council in March 2004 decided to set up a High-Level Group to compile a report for the European Commission on ways of giving renewed stimulus to the Lisbon Strategy and to improve actual delivery. In April the Group was established under the chairmanship of Wim Kok, former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and with leading figures representing the different stakeholders (trade unions, business, political authorities, academics). In November 2004 the report from the High-Level Group was published. It was called 'Facing the challenge'. The report concluded that the disappointing delivery of the strategy has been due primarily to a lack of determined political action. The agenda had been overloaded, co-ordination poor and there had been conflicting priorities. In the future the priority must be on initiatives to boost Europe's economic growth rate and increase employment. These initiatives can be grouped under five key policy areas: the knowledge society, the internal market, the business climate, the labour market and environmental sustainability. While suggesting that the European Council take the lead in driving the strategy forward, the Report also called on each Member State to prepare National Action Plans on delivering the strategy, with the first plans suggested for submission to the European Commission at the end of 2005. The European Council in Brussels on the 4 November 2004 welcomed the report. Formally, the report of the High-Level Group was submitted as a contribution to the preparation of the European Commission's Mid-Term Review of the Lisbon Strategy due to be presented to the Spring European Council, 22-23 March 2005. The new 5-year European Commission under Jos�anuel Barroso, which began in November 2004, was said to want progress on the Lisbon Strategy as one of its key objectives. This In Focus brings together the key information sources on the Lisbon Strategy, on the Wim Kok report of November 2004, commentary on the likelihood of the strategy being successful, and a predefined search allowing subsequent information sources to be traced. EU: Legislation and Policy Making
EU: Report
EU: BackgroundStakeholder organisationCommercial publisher and media
Related Topic Guides / In Focus
Click here to find further information on the subject of this week's In Focus. |
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Subject Categories | Economic and Financial Affairs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Countries / Regions | Europe |
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