Speech by the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Secretary of State for European Affairs to the High Level Meeting of the Conference about the execution of Lisbon Strategy, in Bratislava
Dear Deputy Prime Minister Dusan Caplovic,
Dear Minister and dear Secretary of State
Dear Ambassador
Dear Commissioner and Representative of the European Commission,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to start by thanking Mr Dusan Caplovic for his kind invitation to be here today, and congratulate him for having had the initiative to hold this very timely discussion on the Lisbon Strategy. This initiative is indeed very timely, now that a new cycle has just begun, and that getting closer to the 10th anniversary of the Strategy brings the inevitable review of what we achieved so far, and where do we go from here.
As its first promoter during our Presidency of the EU in the first half of year 2000, and as a Member State deeply engaged in participating in the development of the European Project, the Lisbon Strategy is dear to Portugal.
This spring our Heads of State and Government have once again reaffirmed their trust in the Lisbon Strategy as a means of getting us to organise ourselves and deliver the conditions for more and sustained growth; for more and better jobs; and for more cohesion too.
That is the broad agenda we are dealing with here. No more, but no less than that. Our Lisbon menu includes all factors eventually leading to more growth and jobs in a context of sustainability. And on the other hand, it is important we remain aware that Lisbon does not - and should not - encompass all elements of the process of European Construction. For instance, some strands of environmental policy are surely part of the Sustainable Development Process, but they need not be covered by the Lisbon Process if they do not have a direct, obvious contribution to growth, employment, or sustainable economic activity. More obviously, policy areas such as those of security and defence are outside the scope of Lisbon - even if in all these cases we should of course promote overall coherence among their objectives.
Heads of State and Government have unanimously confirmed that the Strategy - its objectives, tools and modus operandi - remains up-to-date and provides the appropriate response to existing and coming challenges. What better proof of the updatedness of the Strategy than the fact that the European Council has decided to keep the integrated guidelines unchanged for the cycle 2008-2010? What other proof that the Strategy and its guidelines are fit to deal with the current requirements for growth and jobs?
In its last meeting, the European Council has clearly indicated that priority should now go to implementation and delivery. Fine-tuning of actions and governance can and should still be carried out during the current cycle. In the meantime, it has also indicated that reflection on the future of the Lisbon Strategy in the post-2010 period should begin.
"Focus on implementation and delivery" means that adjustments to governance and to our agenda, if bound to improve results, should still be enforced during the current cycle:
Of course there is room of manoeuvre to strengthen the value added of the Community Lisbon Programme and to enhance its ownership by all institutions concerned, as well as its monitoring and follow-up.
Of course we should continue spreading the practice of carrying out impact assessments before legislating - the only way to ensure that unnecessary burden is avoided.
And of course we should continue improving our communication strategy, reminding us that one of the original elements of the Strategy was its capacity to convey simple, traceable targets for many policy areas.
In the meantime, it will only seem natural to you that, having Portugal held very recently the Presidency of the EU, we are keen on seeing important achievements under our Presidency be given due continuity:
- The agreement in Council on the principles of flexicurity is one of them. We should quickly capitalise upon both this agreement and the joint understanding European Social Partners on labour markets, streamlining these into policymaking.
- The Informal European Council back in October also launched the discussion on the external dimension of the renewed Lisbon Strategy, also reflected in the declaration on globalisation, issued in December - a declaration that unfortunately has not gathered so far the attention it deserves. It is time now to convert this consensus into effective leadership worldwide (in energy and environment, as in financial markets), into stronger stances in multilateral fora, and into more pro-active bilateral economic dialogues with key partners.
- Also in December the Commission's Strategic Report promoted very welcome “back to basics” approach, reminding us all that raising the general level of technical literacy among European youngsters remains a big challenge.
All in all, these achievements point towards the need to further integrate internal and external policies and action, and in parallel strengthen the coherence among economic, employment and social policies. The latter is of utmost relevance to the European Project. Lisbon is investing in people. It is about not giving up on people. It is therefore also about poverty and social exclusion. Just like all strands of the Social Agenda (youth, education, migration, demography), to the extent that inequality and poverty hinder human capital accumulation and labour market participation, the link between social policy and growth and jobs is there, and needs be urgently and seriously addressed. Besides, without developing the social dimension of the EU in tandem with economic developments and policy, globalisation cannot be duly harnessed.
Deliverance in all these areas within one particular Member State is not compatible with overlooking the experience of other Member States, which is why the exchange of best practices needs be intensified.
As elsewhere, we can't go further than what we know we can take. The abandonment of the “blaming and shaming” procedures in the 2005 revision of the Strategy shows that we were not willing to accept that form of pressure. Naturally, then, it was discarded.
The Lisbon Strategy is tailored just to our measure, just to the measure of the Union's ambitions and needs. This is why we have learnt that sharing and praising, not blaming and shaming, is the path to follow.
We all have become particularly experienced already in this domain. Completed with intensive but sensible monitoring of results, it can be reinforced by taking the most out of best practices. Today's initiative provides yet another valuable step in this same direction.
I am proud to note that, later on and tomorrow, among notable experts from other Member States, four experts from Portuguese public administration will be exposing our best practices in three areas during this conference:
- Mr Nuno Gonçalves, from the Portuguese Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises and Innovation, will show you how in Portugal we have adjusted financing schemes to make them more friendly to small-scale entrepreneurship;
- Mr Miguel Leocádio from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education will expose how we have sorted out the knowledge-research-education equation at home, while also stimulating and profiting from international partnerships;
- And Ms Arminda Neves, our deputy Lisbon Co-ordinator, will, together with Mr António Santos, bring to you the New Opportunities Initiative and its contribution to lifelong learning.
Of course, it also works the other way round. For instance, even if Portugal has made progress in combating the sizeable number of early school leavers, there is surely room - and motivation - to learn from other Member States to do better and get results faster.
Now, as regards the reflection on the future of the Lisbon Strategy after 2010, the Lisbon Co-ordinators have given the first contribution a few weeks ago. We are also looking forward to a quick disclosure of the Commission's additional thoughts on how to develop in practise the external dimension of the Lisbon Strategy.
I believe 2009 will bring exciting developments to this reflection. With the Lisbon Treaty in force, we shall by then have a clearer picture of how external relations are organised and what are its consequences in terms of each institution's responsibilities.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The eclectic mix of guidelines, monitoring and soft law have allowed us to achieve a balanced approach between our economic, social and environmental agendas. More than a process, Lisbon is a doctrine, a model of development. A framework for our action. One which is highly regarded by our third parties. One which is sufficiently effective to renew itself to cater for the coming challenges.
One of these challenges is to keep the people connected to our development programme, which just like development itself, is something for the long-run. Clear targeting and monitoring that can be understood by the general public are key to keep them attached to what we are doing for them.
Maybe the other greatest challenge is to “keep it simple”, in a way, faithful to the original spirit of the Strategy. Development implies largely spread gains of well-being for European citizens and companies. While the “excellence” of already “excellent” human resources and businesses must remain a central element of Lisbon, we can never forget that broad-based economic growth, job creation and well-being requires policies addressing the needs and the potentialities of all our citizens and companies - whether in towns or in the countryside, whether big or small.
Congratulations again, Mr Deputy Prime Minister for holding this initiative and I would like to wish you, Ladies and Gentlemen, a very fruitful Conference, full of “food for thought” for tacking the challenges ahead.