Twelve wise men to push EU economy forward
RICHARD CARTER
22.04.2004 @ 17:32 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The make-up of a "high-level group" to discuss ways of helping the EU economy catch up with the US was unveiled today in Brussels.
Chaired by former Dutch prime minister Wim Kok, the group will investigate ways to advance the so-called Lisbon Strategy, which is the EU's goal to become "the most dynamic, knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010".
This strategy is widely seen as a failure with little or no progress made towards achieving the aims.
So EU leaders decided in March to establish a group, which will hand in the fruits of its research to the European Commission in November 2005 in the framework of a "mid-term review".
Eclectic mix
The group is an eclectic mix comprising 10 men and two women.
Included in the group are business people such as Niall Fitzgerald (Chairman of Unilever), academics such as Luigi Paganetto (Professor of economics at the University of Rome), trades unionists such as Wanja Lundby-Wedin, (Chairwoman of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation) and politicians like Thomas Mirow (from the Hamburg City Council).
The Irish EU Presidency welcomed the creation of the group and praised its diversity.
Bertie Ahern - current President of the EU - said, "I am pleased that the membership of the High-Level Group reflects the diversity of the strategy and also of the various stakeholders, with the interests of business, employees, citizens and the environment all represented".
But not all interested parties think the creation of such a group is the best way forward.
When the group was announced in March, the Secretary-General of the European Trades Union Confederation, John Monks, said, "we are frankly sceptical about a high-level group. One thing we have not lacked in Europe is high level groups".
