Lisbon Strategy 'well on track', says Commission
The Lisbon Strategy is starting to deliver results, according to the European Commission's first assessment of action at the European level. In March 2005 the European Council re-launched the Lisbon Strategy with a focus on growth and jobs. This latest progress report shows that by the end of July 2006, the Commission had adopted almost three quarters of the policy actions covered by the Lisbon Programme up to 2007. The adoption of the Seventh Framework Programme in the next few months will further boost progress on the strategy. On knowledge and innovation, the Commission states that good progress has been made in setting up a governance structure at EU-level for meeting the 3% of GDP target for investment in research. At their recent meeting in Finland, Europe's leaders also endorsed the Commission's innovation strategy and the proposal for the European Institute of Technology (EIT). One of the areas identified for further action is patent policy. Here the Commission notes that political leadership will be needed to make progress. For its part, the Commission said it will try to re-launch the process later this year after a comprehensive consultation with stakeholders/ The Commission notes that it is now up to the European Parliament and the Member States to adopt these proposals as soon as possible.