Date: 10 July 2007
 
Speaker: Iain Begg, Professor London School of Economics and Associate Research Fellow, CEPS
 
CEPS hosted the lunchtime discussion “Is the New Lisbon Strategy delivering?” with Iain Begg, Professor at the London School of Economics and Associate Research Fellow at CEPS. In his recently published Special CEPS Report "Lisbon II, Two Years on: An Assessment of the Partnership for Growth and Jobs" Begg examines the achievements of the re-launched Lisbon Strategy since March 2005, assesses the progress of the Partnership for Growth and Jobs in the 2006-2007 period and recommends possible new priorities for the Lisbon Strategy.
 
After a brief summary of his report, Begg outlined positive and negative aspects of Lisbon II. He came to the conclusion that Lisbon II performs better than Lisbon I, although more effort and fresh thinking will be needed in the future. Begg noted that overlapping projects and too many different targets with varied timelines increase the risk of confusion. The lack of clarity engendered by the many different targets and priorities could lead to the result that some important aspects could be “swept under the carpet”.
 
On the other hand, most member states understand the need of adapting their economies and have shown increasing willingness to embrace economic reform in the past two years. However, he observed alarming imbalances within the Euro area regarding the results of the Lisbon Strategy: Spain, for example, has a clear deficit (of 10%) whereas other countries surpass the Lisbon II expectations (for example Germany with 5%). Lisbon II has become more coherent and effective. There are indicators that structural reforms pay off. Evidence is provided by i.a. the economic growth rate in Germany and the decline of unemployment in the last year. At the same time, however, one must be careful not to see these results solely as consequences of the Lisbon re-launch. These factors could as well be the outcome of reforms that took place two years ago.
 
After Lisbon II started in 2005 with a rather soft approach, Begg welcomed the Commission`s tougher stance vis-à-vis the member states that disregard its recommendations as to the measures to be taken in order to reach the Lisbon II targets. Since there are shortcomings in the quality of public administration and certain public services that hinder economic growth and the job sector Begg emphasized the usefulness of focusing more on public sector efficiency in the future.  
 
Begg concluded with an outlook on the future of the Lisbon Strategy: By October 2007 the Commission should provide a paper on the next stage regarding the Lisbon Strategy for the time frame 2008 – 2011 and in March 2008 at the European Council decisions will be due.