The European Parliament and the Lisbon Strategy

MEPs and members of national parliaments from the 25 Member States met at the European Parliament in Brussels on 16-17 March 2005 to discuss the future of the Lisbon Strategy. The aim of making the EU into the most competitive economy in the world by 2010 was adopted by the Lisbon Summit in 2000. Results so far have been disappointing, and the next EU summit on 22-23 March 2005 was due to relaunch the strategy. One of the main reasons for the poor implementation of the strategy has been a lack of commitment at the level of the Member States, where much of the necessary reform needs to take place. This meeting aimed to tackle this by raising awareness of the Lisbon Strategy among national parliamentarians, since they are the ones who will need to adopt and implement many of the changes required.

This background note gives details of Parliament's latest stance on the Lisbon Strategy and summarises its involvement in the process since 2000.