EU's new recovery and reform strategy after the financial crisis

Europe 2020

The first purpose of this strategy is to provide a solution for the economic crisis that stroke Europe. The strategy is also supposed to set up the shift to a more sustainable economy, one which will be able to cope with the challenges that are to come. To name a few of these challenges, four are considered significant: government deficits, elderly population, climate change and globalisation - Mr. Barosso


By ROXANA CIUPARIU (roxana.ciupariu@wavemagazine.net)
from Bucharest, ROMANIA


At the end of March 2010, EU heads of state sat down and agreed on a new strategy called "Europe 2020" to get the member states out of the crisis and back on their feet. This is a new and crucial political initiative of the Commission in the economic field. This recent strategy is replacing the unfinished Lisbon Agenda, adopted in 2000, but it will require added effort to succeed, due to the current economical situation and the political reception after it was first presented.

On the 26th of March 2010, Heads of states and Governments of the 27 EU Member States agreed on the main aspects of Europe 2020, which is now to be properly implemented starting June this year.

- 2010 must mark a new beginning. I want Europe to emerge stronger from the economic and financial crisis - begins the president of the Commission, Mr. Barosso, in the Preface to the Europe 2020 document. The first purpose of this strategy is to provide a solution for the economic crisis that stroke Europe. The strategy is also supposed to set up the shift to a more sustainable economy, one which will be able to cope with the challenges that are to come. To name a few of these challenges, four are considered significant: government deficits, elderly population, climate change and globalisation.

The strategy

In order to reach its plans, the Commission proposed the focus to be on knowledge, employment and the green economy, while asking, in the same time, for the attention of member states, which are supposed to coordinate and organize their economies as to meet these objectives by 2020.

Among the strategy's main objectives is the desire to raise employment rate of population amid 20 to 64, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% to 30%, increasing energy efficiency, and tackling poverty by reducing the number of Europeans living under the national poverty lines. All these, and many more, will have to be transposed into national goals, which are left to the discretion of each member state, in order to fulfil their needs and requirements.

The strategy also sets up seven flagship initiatives the EU would have to accomplish as to enhance growth and employment, such as programmes to improve conditions and access to finance for R&D (research and development) and increase the use of renewable energy, to name only some.

The commentaries

The initial responses to the plan were not positive. According to Business week, the list of targets was received as not easily doable and there was little trust that goals would be achieved, due to both failure of other strategies, such as Lisbon Agenda 2000, as well as the repetition of same ideas and aims for years now.

Europe 2020 was viewed with scepticism, which arose chiefly from the concern that it will be impossible to coordinate action in all 27 member states, which signifies it will be quite difficult to convince them in high priorities. The business community was among its strong opponents, with Germany following closely, reluctant to welcome further suggestions, especially when it came to governance.

According to Euractiv.com, the German Chancellor, Mrs. Angela Merkel has accused the Commission of trying to introduce surveillance schemes, as well as trying to "link fiscal stabilisation programmes to expenditure in growth-friendly areas such as R&D and education". The current Chancellor of Germany also fears that giving individual countries specific targets is not a very good idea, since governments are not able to directly sway their realizations. One of the Commission's responses centred the Greek current situation: the lack of reforms, or the necessity for them, in one country, reflects on the others as well. The response can be understood as directed to Mrs. Merkel's fear that with Germany being a big economy, it will, under certain forms, end up bailing out Greece, which is one of the reasons for Germany strongly opposing the strategy. Nonetheless, Mrs. Merkel also fought against the inclusion of poverty-related reforms into the strategy, stating that this is something states need to handle on their own, as in states that need to deal with it.

Whatever will come next on the crisis and the strategy in question, certain accords were finally reached which led to the successful outcome of the European Council meeting on 26th of March. What remains now is to wait and see if the Europe 2020 strategy will have the same or a better faith than Lisbon Agenda.



(Published: 10.04.2010.)