To make the European Union "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-driven economy, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion ": that was the guideline, the "new strategic goal" of the principles EU's Head of States and Governments agreed on when they signed in March 2000 what is now called the Lisbon Agenda. This agreement was discussed by the fifteen countries that formed the EU at that time, during the European Council that took place in Lisbon. The idea was to launch a long-term plan, including overall strategies concerning economic policies for the next ten years. However, this Lisbon Strategy aimed at including social considerations in these economic policies. Thus, they have defined the European social model as a triangle, linking the three angles represented by economic, employment and social policies. The gathering of these three perspectives should ensure a balanced growth, in everybody's advantage, and well-being in the European Union. Even more, the EU would have a role to play in the mutual progress on economic and social fronts.
[...] Some implementations to the Agenda 2004 : the turning point As we have seen, the Kok report was quite negative about the Lisbon Agenda achievements. However marked several deep changes at the head of Europe, with the election of a new Parliament in June, appointment of a new Commission in November. And what marked a great disruption is the entry of ten new countries in the Union, which implied a rethinking of the Strategy. The 2004 Commission spring report announces the decision to launch again the “European Growth Initiative”. [...]
[...] Sustainable development really was actually written down in the Lisbon Agenda as a central issue during the Goteborg Council in March 2001. The goals set at Lisbon in 2000, during the specific context of the economic boom were wide-range, applying the lines of the new social model designed for the European Union. The European Council targeted to achieve these objectives within a decade. Now that we are nearly in 2008, we can begin to appreciate the results. As the year 2010 is approaching, what are the actual achievements of the Lisbon plan? [...]
[...] Thanks to the Lisbon strategy, social exclusion has also been denounced; is has been made the subject of a special attention, and the eradication of poverty has been written in the Lisbon Strategy. In a more general way, the Lisbon Process wants to “modernize social protection” in EU's countries. This social page of the Lisbon Agenda was more particularly the major topic of a special Commission Communication on social policy agenda. In June 2000, it set a roadmap, establishing the framework of the planned reforms until 2005, on which all the EU's Heads of States and Governments agreed during the following Council, hold in December 2000 in Nice. [...]
[...] Thus, as a result of a political will to initiate a new social model, encouraged by a positive economic context and the increasing necessity to adapt to the global competition, the Lisbon Agenda marked a turning point for the EU policies. The ambitious content of the “Lisbon Agenda” A special “macro-economic policy has been designed in order to realize high targets, both economic and social, included in an “overall strategy”. The sum of all these measures and objectives represent what is called the Lisbon Agenda, defining the Lisbon Strategy also called the Lisbon Process; it is presented by the Presidency Conclusions of the European Council that took place in Portugal in March and Economic targets They were wide and very ambitious. [...]
[...] This “third and its successes have strongly influenced the Lisbon Agenda's spirit and the new European social model. Socially speaking, it is inspired, as we said, by Scandinavian model; but as far as economy is concerned, it follows liberal principles, like the United-States for instance. This model is based on education and employment: people are central, that is to say, in economic terms, human capital. However, European leaders needed a favorable context to launch this new economic strategy at the height of the dot.com boom: an encouraging context for Europe to take off again At that time, the economic prospective was very optimistic: the growth was good, and indicators were very positive. [...]
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