Public consultation on the future EU 2020 strategy
The European Commission is calling on all stakeholders, particularly those involved in research, to share their views on suggested, broad policy considerations for the future EU 2020 strategy. To facilitate this, a public consultation process has been opened. In his programme for the new Commission, President José Manuel Barroso set out his vision for where the European Union should be heading by 2020. He believes that the end of the current crisis should mark the beginning of a new sustainable social market economy and a smarter, greener economy in which European prosperity will rely on innovation and the more efficient use of resources. This will focus on knowledge as a key input. To make this transformation happen, Europe needs a common agenda: the EU 2020 strategy. This strategy should enable the EU to make a full recovery from the current economic crisis, while speeding up the move towards a smart and green economy. EU 2020 will build on the progress made through the Lisbon Strategy, which focused on growth and jobs, while also addressing its shortcomings. The Commission intends to present a formal proposal for the EU 2020 strategy early next year, with a view to the EU's heads of state and government adopting the strategy at a spring 2010 meeting. The Commission believes that this formal proposal would greatly benefit from the involvement of research, and especially researchers in the socio-economic sciences and humanities.