Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Europe 2020 Strategy has been adopted as a successor to the Lisbon Strategy for Jobs and Growth. Its goal is to enable Europe to emerge stronger from the current economic crisis as a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. The strategy addresses the major challenges facing Europe today, including the economic crisis, climate change, globalisation and an ageing population. The June European Council confirmed the five headline targets which will guide member states in preparing and implementing national reform programmes, along with integrated guidelines for economic and employment policies.

An initial draft of Ireland's national reform programme is expected to be submitted to the Commission shortly, with the final version due next spring. Clearly the national reform programme will be strongly informed by the four year plan, which the Government published last week. There have been recent discussions between Irish officials and relevant officials from the European Commission on the draft national reform programme and these discussions will continue concerning the national targets and finalisation of the national reform programme next year. Arrangements for the implementation of the national reform programme will be established following its publication in the new year.

See this speech in context