National Reform Programmes submitted by 23 out of 25 Member States, reveals Commission
Marking a crucial stage in the EU's relaunched Lisbon strategy for Growth and Jobs, the European Commission has informed the Competitiveness Council that it has received the National Reform Programmes (NRPs) of all EU Member States except Poland and Germany, where new governments have just taken office. Commission Vice-President with responsibility for Enterprise and Industry, Günter Verheugen, told ministers: 'The new process is off to a very good start. The cooperation between Member States and the Commission is excellent and the new approach has strengthened the ownership of Member States.' In March 2005, following the recommendations of a high-level report on the Lisbon strategy - the so-called Kok report - the European Council agreed to relaunch the Lisbon agenda with a clearer focus on the key priorities of creating growth and jobs. As part of the relaunched strategy, a new Integrated Guidelines package identified the key challenges facing the EU and called on Member States to identify their own priorities and best practices in National Reform Programmes, to be presented by mid-October 2005. The delivery of the NRPs marks a crucial step in the relaunched Lisbon process. Building on the integrated guidelines for growth and jobs, and benefiting from bilateral contacts with the Commission, Member States have now identified which areas present the more pressing challenges for their economies and explained what actions they intend to take over the next three years to address them. These political documents, drawn up by governments after discussions with national parliaments and social stakeholders, are designed to allow Member States to take more ownership of the Lisbon objectives. All 23 programmes offer an overview of planned measures in the areas of macro and microeconomic policies, as well as on employment. Building the knowledge society through increased efforts in research and development (R&D, innovation and education is cited as key objective in all 23 documents. Creating a positive business environment, encouraging entrepreneurship, raising employment, and ensuring the sustainability of public finances are also seen as priority areas by most Member States. The positive potential of better regulation for growth and employment has also been clearly recognised in many of the NRPs. The Commission will now start the process of examining the documents and, once that work is completed, it will publish its analysis of the NRPs in its Lisbon Annual Progress Report in January. That report will be submitted to the Spring European Council in March 2006, along with an opinion from the European Parliament. Based on this progress report, the Commission can propose amendments to the integrated guidelines if necessary. The Commission has urged the new governments of Poland and Germany to give the highest priority to completing their respective NRPs in order to complete the overall picture.