Lisbon Strategy - Midterm Review

Midterm Review

Between April and November 2004, Wim Kok headed up a review of the program and presented a report on the Lisbon strategy concluding that even if some progress was made, most of the goals were not achieved:

European Union and its Member States have clearly themselves contributed to slow progress by failing to act on much of the Lisbon strategy with sufficient urgency. This disappointing delivery is due to an overloaded agenda, poor coordination and conflicting priorities. Still, a key issue has been the lack of determined political action

The European Commission used this report as a basis for its proposal in February 2005 to refocus the Lisbon Agenda on actions that promote growth and jobs in a manner that is fully consistent with the objective of sustainable development. The Commission's communication stated that "making growth and jobs the immediate target goes hand in hand with promoting social or environmental objectives."

In its resolution on the midterm review of the Lisbon strategy in March 2005, the European Parliament expressed its belief that "sustainable growth and employment are Europe's most pressing goals and underpin social and environmental progress" and "that well-designed social and environmental policies are themselves key elements in strengthening Europe's economic performance".

These declarations were classed as unrealistic by some, and the failure of the "relaunch" initiative was predicted if the existing approach was not changed.