Leaders to assess EU’s economic fitness
Leaders of the European nations meet today to discuss how to push through major economic reforms in the soon-to-be-enlarged 25-member European Union.
Political leaders will assess the progress made post-Lisbon and revisit the question of how to turn the trading bloc into the world’s most competitive economy by 2010.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has pressed EU finance ministers to deregulate their economies along the lines of the UK’s.
Meanwhile the Confederation of British Industry questioned whether the summit could boost competitiveness across the EU.
The CBI said security and constitutional issues, although important, should not detract from other economic issues at the summit.
The pro-business campaign group today will launch a “stinging attack” on the “failure of some politicians at EU summits to deliver economic reform and shake up the way the EU operates.”
The CBI wants to see the appointment of an EU vice president for competitiveness as a counter-weight to commissioners who burden economies with “unnecessary” bureaucracy.
The CBI said “inertia” was “making a mockery” of the pledges made in Lisbon to “make Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world.”
John Cridland, the CBI’s deputy director general, said: “Employers will feel a sense of d j vu when they hear the fine words about competitiveness.
“When push comes to shove, too many politicians seem insufficiently committed to tackling business and economic needs. For example, European politicians failed to reach agreement on the community patent.
“This persistent failure is damaging economic growth, jobs and prosperity.”
CBI President Sir John Egan yesterday morning met EU business leaders for a pre-summit meeting with Irish Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who holds the rotating EU presidency.
