Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Lisbon Agenda, which was agreed at the Lisbon European Council in 2000, aspired to make the European economy the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. The recent mid-term review of the strategy concluded that performance in regard to the Lisbon objectives had been disappointing and that an important aspect had been poor implementation of economic and structural reforms by member states. The implementation of reforms has not been fast enough and has not been comprehensive, particularly in the larger member states.

The Lisbon review concluded that a strong focus on growth and employment is necessary to preserve and enhance living standards and to contribute to sustainable development and social cohesion. The revamped Lisbon strategy attempts to improve implementation by increasing national ownership of the reform process, better focusing the strategy and improving its governance.

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