At the inaugural meeting of the CEPS Task Force on Aligning the EU Budget to the Europe 2020 Competitiveness and Growth Objectives on May 17th, a consensus was reached that achieving the goals of Europe 2020 requires better targeting and concentration of EU spending programmes and an expansion of non-budgetary instruments. This Open Letter to EU leaders calls for serious reform of policies and a redistribution of funds towards areas of long-term sustainable growth and competitiveness.