Cabinet to discuss Lisbon strategy

Malta's three-year plan to implement the Lisbon strategy guidelines is to be discussed by the Cabinet next week before being forwarded to Brussels.

The plan will be submitted to Parliament for endorsement.

The latest developments on Malta's National Reform Programme were discussed yesterday during a meeting in Brussels between Competitiveness Minister Censu Galea and Commission President José Manuel Durao Barroso.

The EU is giving a lot of importance to the NRPs of its member states as these programmes are intended to gear the EU to becoming the fastest growing economy worldwide.

Minister Galea, who was entrusted by the Prime Minister to coordinate Malta's plan, also participated in a meeting of the 25 national coordinators and the Commission to discuss the progress achieved on the preparation of the NRPs.

Views were exchanged on putting into practice a new system of governance launched last March for driving economic reform at EU and national levels under the Lisbon strategy.

During the meeting, Mr Galea confirmed Malta's intention to submit its programme to the EU by the middle of this month.

He reiterated Malta's commitment towards the Lisbon strategy and said that the NRP will focus on five key areas. These include the sustainability of public finances, competitiveness, employment, education and the environment. The document sets time frames for these targets to be met.

The Lisbon agenda was launched five years ago. During the Lisbon summit in 2000, EU leaders agreed to a set of strict economic, social and environmental benchmarks to be achieved by all member states.

Five years down the line, however, the strategy is still far from being implemented by the EU member states. A recent study indicated that Malta was going to be way off its targets.

EU leaders re-visited the plan last March and re-launched the Lisbon Strategy to catch up and focus on specific economic targets.