EU fumbles deadline on Lisbon plans
Several member states will miss the European Commission’s Saturday deadline for submitting Lisbon Agenda action plans, but Brussels believes the scheme is on track to produce results next year. The Lisbon Agenda calls on the EU to become the world’s most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010. Member states tried to breathe new life into the flagging process this March by calling for national ideas on how to boost economic growth and employment over the next three years in areas where the EU has no say, such as pensions and taxes.
Embassies are due to hand in their national plans, consisting of 30-40 page dossiers with statistical annexes, by the weekend, with EU experts flying back and forth to member states in the past few weeks to help finalise the texts. France, Sweden and Denmark told EU Observer that they will not make the Saturday deadline however, while question marks hang over Germany and Poland as well. Paris hopes to send in its document by the end of this month, Stockholm is aiming for October 21 and Denmark for the “next few weeks”, citing delays over the late sitting of parliament and translation back home. The commission said that the ambiguous political situation in Germany and Poland following last month’s general elections is also likley to cause hold-ups.
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