New report highlights EU's 'heroes and villains'

Efforts to turn the EU into the world’s most dynamic economy are “still working,” according to commission president José Manuel Barroso.

But he says member states need to pursue its objectives with more “vigour and focus”.

Barroso was speaking in Brussels on Monday at the launch of a Lisbon ‘scorecard’ by the UK-based think tank Centre for European Reform.

The Lisbon agenda is now in its eighth year and three years into the 2005 re-launch.

The scorecard, produced annually since EU leaders met in Lisbon in 2000, measures how member states are progressing in meeting its goals on innovation, liberalisation and enterprise.

It gives an overall performance rating of just C-plus and the message is that member states “must do better”.

Barroso said, “Most parents do not want their child coming home with a C-plus but I accept that countries must do better.

“The economic performance of member states has been uneven and some have shown more commitment to economic reform than others.

“Indeed, over the last 12 months there has been evidence of reform fatigue.”

He added, “However, it is still pointing out that 6.5 million jobs have been created in the past two years and unemployment is at its lowest level for 25 years.

“Yes, we still have problems and there is no room for complacency but this is no mean achievement.”

According to the scorecard, the UK remains the best performer among the five biggest economies in Europe, in seventh place.

However, it has slipped three places compared with 2006, by contrast, Germany has risen from ninth to eighth place, while France has risen from 11th to ninth.

The economic heroes, it says, are Austria, Estonia and the Netherlands while the villains are Greece and Italy.

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