IMAD Head Urges Lisbon-Oriented Reforms
The director of the government Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development has urged Slovenia and the EU to undertake extensive reforms if they are to meet Lisbon Strategy goals.
According to Janez Sustersic, measures to boost growth and employment would have to be a mixture of British liberal economics and efficient legislation, and the Scandinavian welfare state reform.
Moreover, European society should be based on knowledge and the environment should be made a competitive advantage as compared in particular with Asia and the United States, Sustersic told participants of the Business Week conference, which wrapped up on Thursday.
Alasdair Murray of the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank, blamed political causes for the EU's failure to achieve better results over the past five years. The Union was unable to achieve reform consensus on the political level, he said.
Murray described the key economic indicators which show Europe lagging behind its objectives, but noted that there has been some success: the energy, financial and telecoms sectors have been liberalised and progress has been made in regulatory reform.
However, he pointed out, progress has been lackluster in research and development, where the EU is far behind the United States.
He noted that Slovenia places seventh in the EU in terms of development indicators, but a lot needs to be done to achieve the Lisbon targets, in particular in reforming the pension system and opening up to investment.
The traditional Business Week conference was organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It has been held for the third year in a row.
Foto BOBO
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