Does the EU have 2020 vision?
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Whether your main concern as a European is the environment, energy, education or the economy, the new EU 2020 strategy has it covered. Or does it? The plan was unveiled today amid concerns that it is too political and is no different than its failed predecessor, which hit none of its targets.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has called on member states to work harder on coordinating economic policy to prevent the possibility of another financial crisis.
The plan aims to increase employment figures, energy efficiency and investment in research and development. It also aims at reducing carbon emissions throughout the EU.
During his speech Mr Barroso said, "There is something that we have to do more that was not there before: Coordination, common governance with coherence and persistence, with continuity. Only then can we have a clear European strategy working together."
The strategy aims at increasing employment from 69 to 75 percent, increasing research and development grants from 1.9 to 3 percent of EU GDP, cutting carbon emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels and decreasing energy consumption by 20 percent.
But not everyone is as enthusiastic as Mr Barroso. German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her concerns in a letter to the Commission president. She is concerned the new goals may divert the EU’s focus from the bloc's Stability Pact, which enshrines fiscal discipline.
Some economists see the plan as too similar to the previous 2000 Lisbon strategy, which failed to reach its targets. "There's no substance, nothing concrete," Daniel Gros of the Centre for European Policy Studies told journalists.
And the EU is not forcing member states to comply. There will be no punishment and no sanctions, Barroso told the crowd at the plan’s unveiling. The plan can only be implemented if the 27-member states hand over power on how to run their economies to Brussels.
So unless all 27 members agree, it looks like this 10-year plan may end up in the same place as many proposed EU plans – the bin!
