Date: 18 March 2010

Speakers:
José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
Simon Tilford, Chief Economist, CER
Karel Lannoo, CEO, CEPS
Ann Mettler, Executive Director, The Lisbon Council
Chair: Charles Grant, Director, CER

For the past 10 years, the London-based Centre for European Reform (CER) has carried out an annual assessment of member state progress in reaching the Lisbon agenda targets of 2000. CEPS hosted the Brussels launch of the latest review, entitled Lisbon Scorecard X: The Road to 2020, at a membership meeting on 18 March 2010. Presentations were made by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, CER Chief Economist Simon Tilford, CEPS Chief Executive Karel Lannoo and Ann Mettler, Executive Director of the Lisbon Council. CER Director Charles Grant chaired the event.

As one of the two principal authors, Simon Tilford introduced the findings of the report, emphasising that the economic crisis increased the gap between the best and the worst performances of member states in achieving the Lisbon Agenda objectives. The question to ask now is what the EU should look like in the year 2020. With a view to answering this question, Tilford stressed the need for improving governance methods, deepening the single market, investing in human capital and R&D, balancing financial stability and economic growth and finally promoting sustainability in environment and social policies.

José Manuel Barroso subscribed to the progressive stance of Simon Tilford. He emphasised the need for Europe to learn from the global economic and financial crisis and to seize the opportunity to take concrete actions. According to the European Commission President, the road to 2020 is built on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Smart growth is achieved by investing in human capital, sustainable growth by investing in renewables and securing scarce resources, and inclusive growth by sharing the benefits. Barroso insisted that the EU can take concrete actions in this direction by claiming real political ownership and establishing tools to motivate member states.

Karel Lannoo offered comments on the impact of the financial crisis on EU integration and more specifically on integration of the single market. He argued that the crisis resulted in a step back in integration of the single market. Member states have taken defensive national measures and state aid has forced banks to return to their core business on their home markets. According to Lannoo, from a citizen’s perspective, it is crucial for regulators to rebuild trust in financial markets and the banking sector.

The final speaker on the programme, Ann Mettler, compared the Lisbon Agenda with the Europe 2020 strategy. She sees a qualitative difference between the two, with the latter providing for a more comprehensive programme. She underlined the importance of clear policy processes voiced in the strategy’s flagship programmes and the importance of indicators based on country-specific targets instead of one-size-fits-all. Providing incentives through the EU budget could be combined with the use of policy warnings and ‘naming and shaming’ mechanisms. Mettler concluded her discourse by presenting the Europe 2020 programme with three challenges: How do we communicate reform to the public? How do we overcome the resistance of stakeholders? How do we maintain momentum to drive Europe 2020 forward?

View video excerpts of the event (Barroso's speech) at www.ceps.eu/media_files
Download the report at www.cer.org.uk