Update of the national reform programme to achieve the aims of the Lisbon Strategy: is Spain meeting European standards? (ARI)

The analysis sets out first of all the basic characteristics of the National Reform Programme (NRP) sent by the Kingdom of Spain to the EU last year. Secondly, it describes the evaluation that Brussels made of this programme and highlights the fundamental points that Spain had to deal with for the update of the NRP in 2006. Thirdly, it evaluates the extent to which Spain has satisfied all these points. Finally, it highlights certain areas in which there is still work to be done to re-launch the Lisbon Strategy in Europe. The analysis concludes that Spain has just carried out, halfway through October 2006, an exercise in accountability which is unprecedented in the history of its political economy by offering a complete follow-up battery of the main objectives and principal indicators, even if they are not favourable to the country. In this respect, Spain has all the necessary points to again be recognised by the EU as a best-practice benchmark in terms of accountability. However, Spain has made little progress in terms of ‘ownership’ and visibility of the Lisbon Strategy. It should therefore work even harder to involve the ‘autonomous communities’ (regional governments), Parliament, the scientific community and the media in the entire process of updating the NRP each year.