Make Lisbon strategy a 'vision for Europe', argue social stakeholders
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has called on EU leaders to develop the Lisbon strategy into a 'true vision for Europe' rather than simply an economic reform programme. Following a joint conference on civil society ownership of the Lisbon strategy organised by the EESC and the Hungarian Economic and Social Council (HESC), a joint declaration by the presidents of both institutions stressed that the strategy must address the 'most important areas of human life, namely the economic field, the social field and the natural environment'. 'The Lisbon strategy needs to be presented and communicated to the public not just as an economic reform programme but as a vision for Europe,' reads the declaration. '[The] three pillars of the Lisbon strategy are all vital and interdependent and have to be regarded as being of equal importance.' The public must be fully involved in spelling out the long-term policies around which the strategy is based, the presidents add. 'It must be abundantly clear that the project will fail miserably - as regards achieving both economic success and social cohesion in Europe - if it does not have the support of, or is indeed opposed by, the public and public organisations.' The EESC and its national partner organisations are ready to contribute closely to the planning, implementation and monitoring of the strategy, they stress. Political institutions at all levels must pursue Lisbon policies in a determined and transparent manner, the statement continues, and measures should be implemented under the slogan 'Think European, act locally'. This means that: 'The European institutions must consequently exercise a robust coordinating role in order (a) to ensure that the common vision is pursued in a sustained way [...] and (b) to prevent selfish, national action from gaining the upper hand, at the expense of the Community as a whole.' The joint declaration is addressed to EU Heads of State and Government, meeting at the European Council on 23 and 24 March, for which the EESC has also prepared its Spring Summit report.