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José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, has finally presented yesterday, 3rd March, his proposals for the upcoming years in the framework of the 2020 Strategy.
Among the concrete objectives are an employment rise of 6% for the active population aged from 20 to 64, a reduction of the share of early school leavers from 15 to 10% and a reduction of the number of people living under the poverty line from 80 to 60 million people.
Many critics have been raised by experts and representatives from different political groups, stating that the European Commission’s proposals are too long-termist which could lead to a postponment of actions that should instead be immediatly undertaken in order to achieve results as soon as possible.
Angela Merkel expressed in particular her disagreement regarding the link made between fiscal stabilisation programmes and expenditure in growth-friendly areas such as education.
Moreover, other representatives support the idea that if the former Lisbon Strategy failed, it is because of the lack of suitable political instruments, a lack of political will from the Member States and a lack of fiancial means.
These reasons are surely relevant but do not explain everything. The Commission needs to admit that, above all, the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs failed in defining realistic objectives and has underestimated the urgent need for social cohesion as being one of the most important targets for the EU citizens well being.
One important question lies ahead: are the European and national leaders going to take measures in order to fight the social disparities and inequalities?
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