Hoe moet de EU verder na de Lissabonstrategie? (en)

The EU Strategy for Growth and Jobs, known as the Lisbon Strategy, will soon expire. How will the EU carry on the work after that? This was one of the questions on the agenda when the General Affairs Council met on 16 November in Brussels. The ministers also discussed how the EU will continue its work on sustainable development.

New strategy for a competitive Europe

The Lisbon Strategy covers issues including jobs, welfare and growth in Europe. The strategy in its present form will soon expire. Therefore, next spring the EU needs to adopt a new strategy for growth and jobs for the coming years. The discussion at the Council meeting focused on the priorities in the new strategy, how the strategy can be made more efficient and how actors at regional and national levels can become more involved.

“The economic crisis has put a lot of pressure on the Member States' budgets", says Sweden's Minister for EU Affairs Cecilia Malmström i. “That is why it is important to ensure we have the right priorities if the EU is to develop as a green, knowledge-based economy."

The work on the new strategy encompasses issues such as how the EU Member States are to convert to a climate friendly society, labour migration, and how to adapt to an ageing population.

“We must think ahead. The EU Strategy for Growth and Jobs is primarily of importance for the long term", says Cecilia Malmström i.

Sights set on EU sustainable development vision

The ministers also discussed the EU Sustainable Development Strategy. Sustainability is an issue that concerns many different policy areas. The General Affairs Council is responsible for the horizontal coordination of the issue. The EU Sustainable Development Strategy is a long-term vision that stretches over 40-50 years.

“Many of the goals we want to achieve in the long term require us to make decisions today. One example of this is the fight against climate change", says Minister for EU Affairs Cecilia Malmström.

At the Council meeting the focus was on developments so far and how to work on the issues in the future, particularly with regard to follow-up mechanisms. Topics of discussion included how GDP can be complemented with other parameters in order to be able to measure development in an effective way.

“In the context, I think it is appropriate to cite Albert Einstein", says Cecilia Malmström. “He said that ‘everything that can be counted does not necessarily count, and everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted'. Naturally, economic development is preferable to stagnation, but using GDP as a measure misses many aspects. I think some interesting ideas were raised on this during our discussion."

The Swedish Presidency will draw up a report on the progress that has been made with regard to the Sustainable Development Strategy. Today's discussion will form an important contribution to the report.