IMAD Head Named National Lisbon Coordinator
Janez Sustersic, the head of the government Institute for Macroeconomic Analysis and Development (IMAD), was appointed by the government on Thursday the national coordinator for the Lisbon Strategy.
Sustersic said that his first task would be to complete the national programme of reforms for the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy until the 15 October deadline.
IMAD has been coordinating the drafting of the reform programme in line with the overhauled Lisbon Strategy as adopted by the EU Council in March.
According to Sustersic, it is still unclear what the role of national Lisbon coordinators (dubbed Mr. Lisbon) would be.
The EU Council resolution adopted in March did not specify the work assignments, and EU member states have opted to appoint them at levels ranging from senior officials to cabinet-level posts.
Sustersic noted that the national coordinators would probably meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Commissioner for Industry Guenter Verheugen in October.
He said Slovenia would advocate the position that these coordinators would have to cooperate at the EU level, so as to "create additional pressure and muster support" for actual reforms across the Union.
In addition to being the director of IMAD, Sustersic has been deputy chair of the Economic Policy Committee, one of the two working bodies of the EU Council for Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN), since June.
The bulk of the committee's tasks is associated with structural reforms called for by the Lisbon Strategy.
More articles from this issue:
Archive
|