Spotlight Europe # 2010/02: Lisbon – A Second Shot
The EU Commission has only just been appointed, and already the equally new President of the European Council, Hermann Van Rompuy, is busy assembling his troops. Today, the heads of state and government meet for the first time under his leadership for an informal summit in Brussels. Right at the top of the agenda is the question of how to shape the Lisbon follow-up strategy.
The EU 2020 strategy must above all be aimed at sustained growth, which may well be possible. However, in the current "spotlight Europe" the European Programme of the Bertelsmann Stiftung shows that the governance needs to be changed. The authors, Joachim Fritz-Vannahme, Armando Garcia Schmidt, Dominik Hierlemann and Robert Vehrkamp, suggest the introduction of benchmarking with the help of "naming and praising," develop the concept of a European Council of Economic Experts, and emphasize the need for more research funding in the EU budget.
The best member states will be singled out every year with a "carrots instead of sticks approach." They will be praised, and given additional EU financing which they may use only for the targets of the EU 2020 process. The achievements of individual countries will be evaluated by "five European wise men," a proposed European Council of Economic Experts.