Wim Kok, former Prime Minister of The Netherlands, presented Facing the Challenge, the report of the High Level Group on the Lisbon strategy that he chaired. The report concludes that the disappointing delivery of the strategy has been due primarily to a lack of determined political action. The agenda has been overloaded, coordination has been poor and there have been conflicting priorities.
The report calls for determined action to be taken urgently across five key policy areas:
The Knowledge Society - increasing Europe’s attractiveness for researchers and scientists, making R&D a top priority and promoting the use of ICT.
The Internal Market - completing the Internal Market for services, especially financial services and removing obstacles to the free movement of goods.
The Business Climate - reducing the total administrative burden; improving the quality of legislation; facilitating the rapid start-up of new companies; and creating an environment that is more supportive to businesses.
The Labour Market - rapidly delivering on the recommendations of the European Employment Taskforce; developing strategies for lifelong learning and active ageing and partnerships for growth and employment.
Environmental Sustainability - stimulating eco-innovation, building leadership in eco-industry and pursuing policies which lead to long-term and sustained improvements in productivity through eco-efficiency.
