LISBON STRATEGY

The Lisbon Strategy is a development plan that restructures the EU economy and settled out the general perspective of the EU in its Lisbon European summit, headed by Portugal on 23-24 March 2000. Sexual discrimination in the economic territory, insufficient integration in the services sector, economic and social differences between regions, explanations on the qualifications of the labour force, no use of information and communication technologies, insufficient AR & GE investments, long unemployment, the economy lags behind Japan and the US, population Aging, has made the future strategic policy for the EU countries inevitable.

The Lisbon Report has identified the basic weaknesses and causes of the European Union's economy and suggested that the economy is shaped within the framework of the two main policy objectives. These goals were: one of the main aims of economic reforms was to turn the economy into a knowledge-based economy; the European Social Model should be redesigned to take human investment, especially education investments, among its priorities.

Six priority areas have been identified to achieve these two main policy objectives. These six areas are listed as follows:

I. E-Europe:

In order for the European Union to compete with the US in information technology, a number of proposals have been made, such as the completion of telecom privatizations and the investment in e-commerce. Some of those were:

Until the end of 2000, internet access costs should be reduced. By the end of 2000, regulations on e-commerce legislation and telecom privatizations in 2001 needed to be implemented. In 2001, all schools should be connected to the internet. In 2002, all teachers should have been trained in the use of internet and multimedia. Digital writing skills should be extended to all citizens until 2005.

ii. Internal Market:

A number of problems reduced the effectiveness of the European internal market. These problems are listed as follows:

a. Production in the EU countries, carried out by the public sector, is still 12 percent of the total national income; b. Costs arising for administrative reasons, called regulatory costs across the EU, are very high; c. Border barriers are still present, particularly in the service sector, stemming from various countries. d. Certain sectors, particularly the energy and aviation sectors, do not offer an open and integrated structure to all EU countries. In most EU countries, these sectors are in separate markets. However, these markets, which have a direct impact on consumer spending and labour costs need to be integrated.

Some of the suggestions for resolving these issues were:

Until June 2000, it was proposed to establish a 'European company' status in order to be able to operate in Europe and deal with a single legislation. By the end of 2000, it was proposed to remove all obstacles in front of service trade; it was anticipated that cross-border service trade would increase by 5 percent every year. Reduce regulatory costs arising from administrative decisions and bureaucracies. Public procurement laws were proposed in 2003 to switch electronic settlement of all of them. At the latest in 2004, it was proposed that the European energy markets be fully liberalized and integrated, the establishment of a single European aviation company and the development of rail transport.

iii. Financial Markets:

When compared to the US, financial in European Union countries the markets were scattered and the structure were far from the activity. An important problem in the development of financial markets was that there were various restrictions on pension funds. Recommendations produced:

Up to June 2000, it was proposed to make legal arrangements covering the entire EU capital markets and to remove tax packages on financial transactions. Until June 2000, it was proposed that priorities related to financial services should be set and implemented by 2005. It was proposed that the risk capital action plan was fully implemented in 2003. It was recommended that the financial services action plan would be completed by the end of 2005.

iv. Research Area

In a knowledge-based economy, the main factor behind economic growth and job creation is thought to be new and entrepreneurial firms. The only way for new and entrepreneurial firms to gain a competitive and effective structure is to attach importance to research and development activities. It is shown that research and development units in EU countries were working separately from each other and not having an adequate coordination. Recommendations:

It was recommended that the implementation of the 'EU patriot' in 2001. Until the end of 2000, it was proposed to establish 'centers of excellence' for research and to network each other. In 2001, a map of research and development activities should be drawn. Research activities, performance, and policies should be regularly reported on an annual basis. The circulation of researchers across Europe should be ensured. National research institutes should be established. In 2002, common objectives should be set in support of private sector research activities.

vi. Entrepreneur Europe

Even if some of the new ventures are not successful, the successful ones are transformed into highly competitive, competitive and dynamic corporations. These companies are also the most important sources of employment creation.

New and entrepreneurial firms play a very important role in increasing national income and increasing national income.

In order to support entrepreneurship, two basic measures have been proposed to the rapporteur. First, it should be a fundamental goal to provide a dynamic market environment for such companies to grow and grow in a competitive environment. The second proposed measure was the direct support of entrepreneurship on the basis of various sub-groups. For example, women entrepreneurs should be particularly encouraged, and giving a second chance to failed entrepreneurs.

In addition to these measures, some measures have been introduced in the fields of Education, Social Security, and Employment. Some of these measures include: At the end of 2005, the population in the 18-24 age group and secondary school graduate should be reduced by half. Until 2005, Internet access and lifelong learning opportunities should be guaranteed for all citizens. For the modernization of the social security system, a high-level working group should be established among the member states. Total investment in human resources should rise to one-quarter of GDP in 2005 and to 50 percent in 2010. In 2010, the employment rate of women should be increased from 60 percent to 51 percent (2000).

The progress achieved since the adoption of the Lisbon Strategy is summarized as follows: The national monopolies have been removed in many sectors, mainly telecommunication, railway transport, postal services, electricity and water distribution, and these sectors have been opened. Thus, an important step has been taken towards the creation of the European internal market; it has become possible to increase the quality of service and reduce costs without a serious loss of employment in these sectors. A great distance has been taken in the effort to transform knowledge-based economies, while the use of the internet in the business world, in the public administration and in the household, Internet access and usage in schools has increased to 93 percent.

From the end of 1999 to the end of 2003, a total of 6 million jobs were created within the EU economies. Thus, while the total employment rate increased from 62.5 percent to 64.3 percent, the long-term unemployment rate declined from 3 percent in 1999 to 3 percent in 2002.The habit of evaluating economic growth under the concept of 'sustainable growth' has been gained to a large extent. In particular, Member States have begun to make necessary reforms in their social security systems, taking into account the increasingly aging population. There is also a great deal of respect for the environment, which is another dimension of sustainable growth, and the protection of the natural environment.

Over the past four years, more than a hundred laws and regulations have been issued which have content consistent with the objectives of the Lisbon Strategy.

Kaan Ozturk

[artigo de opinião produzido no âmbito da unidade curricular “Economia Portuguesa e Europeia” do 3º ano do curso de Economia (1º ciclo) da EEG/UMinho]