Lisbon five years later: what future for European employment and growth?

At the Lisbon summit of 2000, the European Union (EU) set an agenda for making Europe the most competitive economy in the world. The target was set that by the year 2010 the European Union should have employment rates for the working-age population (15-64 years) as close as possible to 70 per cent, for women at least 60 per cent and for the age group 55-64 years 50 per cent. The author argues that the targets that were set then are unlikely to be achieved. The paper contains a review of policies that can, in principle, be effective in achieving the overall employment objectives of the Lisbon strategy. These will need to be adapted at the national level to individual country needs. He suggests that European countries need to concentrate on change in the lower productivity, more labour-intensive service sectors of the economy to improve their poor employment performance.

At the Lisbon summit of 2000, the European Union (EU) set an agenda for making Europe the most competitive economy in the world. The target was set that by the year 2010 the European Union should have employment rates for the working-age population (15-64 years) as close as possible to 70 per cent, for women at least 60 per cent and for the age group 55-64 years 50 per cent. The author argues that the targets that were set then are unlikely to be achieved. The paper contains a review of policies that can, in principle, be effective in achieving the overall employment objectives of the ...  [+] Show more