The Spring European Council: gearing for growth

More investment, more jobs and less regulation are key priorities for action, confirm Europe’s leaders. Since the original Lisbon Strategy was launched in 2000, appreciable progress has been made in re-engineering Europe to meet the challenges of the globalised economy. Not enough perhaps, patchy in parts maybe, and not fast enough for some, but nevertheless structural reforms are happening, investment in R&D is rising and growth is heading upwards. At the 2006 Spring Council, held on 24-25 March in Brussels under the Austrian presidency, Europe’s leaders reviewed progress on the relaunched Lisbon Strategy for Jobs and Growth – and stressed the importance of maintaining momentum.