By Brian Johnson - 17th March 2005
The success or failure of the Lisbon agenda is in the hands of EU leaders, Commission President José Manuel Barroso warned on Thursday.
Speaking at the launch of an annual Lisbon ‘performance’ scorecard, the European Commission President said that the EU's economic reforms were now starting to deliver.
“Lisbon is all about achieving the possible, not the impossible, it’s starting to deliver… but its success is largely in the hands of member states,” Barroso told the Centre for European Reform.
The Portuguese commission president, who has to convince EU governments next week to back his radical reforms called for a “clear and unambiguous commitment to change.”
Barroso said he agreed with the former Dutch prime minister Wim Kok’s assessment that EU member states must not duck their responsibilities.
“I have been accused of following a risky strategy [on Lisbon]. I agree, it is risky, but standing still is not an option,” he declared.
“I’m happy that this commission has set Lisbon as its top priority, but this is a partnership, not just the commission’s work”.
“The final decisions come from member states,” he reiterated.
Barroso admitted that political support for reform was a problem.
“It’s not easy being a prime minister in Europe today… we need a pragmatic approach to achieving this goal.”
The commission chief said that naming and shaming member states was not part of his approach.
“Politicians have to be encouraged to be encouraged,” he said. “We need both political and economic integration.”
And Barroso wanted to avoid the image of the commission being seen as a school teacher.
“I don’t like the commission always giving out lessons [to the member states]. We need a more sophisticated approach.
Answering questions on the controversial services directive, which has recently developed into a row between Brussels and Paris, the commission chief said he understood how legislation designed to complete the internal market could “become polluted by internal political considerations.”
But he admitted that if he could achieve just one objective over the next twelve months, it would the introduction of the services directive. “I think we can do it,” he said.
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