Cross-party initiative to put Lisbon agenda back on track

6.14.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 8th Jul 2008

European Liberal Democrat Leader Graham Watson and six other MEPs from different political Groups launched today the pamphlet "The Lisbon Strategy: Mode d'Emploi". The common theme in this collection of essays is the urgency with which Europe must forge ahead to ensure its economic competitiveness on the global stage.

"This is a "how-to" for making the Lisbon Strategy work for Europe in the time frame that remains before the 2010 deadline. Only a year and a half before the deadline Europe set itself to become the most competitive knowledge economy in the world, we have seen far too little in the way of practical reforms. What we need is greater synthesis between our policies for social inclusion, environmental sustainability and economic competitiveness" said Graham Watson.

The publication initiated by him also features contributions by Robert Goebbels (PSE), Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA), Malcolm harbour (EPP-ED), Edit Herczog (PSE), Gunnar Hökmar (EPP-ED), and Bilyana Raeva (ALDE).

"The Lisbon Strategy: Mode d'Emploi" is third in a series of cross-party pamphlets initiated by Graham Watson which has already dealt with the challenged of migration ("Making Migration Work for Europe") and global governance ("The case for Global Democracy").