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3/20/06

EUobserver.com: Poland 'villain' on EU economic reform scorecard

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Poland 'villain' on EU economic reform scorecard

BRUSSELS - Denmark, Sweden and Austria top the list of this year's Lisbon scorecard on EU states' competitiveness issued by the Centre for European Reform (CER). The CER's Lisbon Scorecard is a yearly document issued by the London-based think- tank assessing member states' progress on the so-called Lisbon Agenda – the bloc's aim to become the most competitive economy in the world.The UK and the Netherlands took place four and five on the 2006 scorecard, with the Dutch dropping from number three to five on the 27-strong list which comprises the EU-25 plus acceding states. Poland, which occupies place 26 on the list, has been earmarked as this year's "villain" by the London researchers because of its poor performance on indicators such as long-term unemployment, but also because of its recent shift of government.

Other poor performers are newcomers Bulgaria (25) and Romania (24) as well as Italy (23), which was last year's "villain."

France and Germany occupy place eight and ten on the list, with France jumping from place 11 last year primarily because of improving employment figures.

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