European Council Conclusions on Economic, Social and Environmental Issues

The European Council welcomes the presentation of the Commission's Strategic Report assessing the implementation of the renewed Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs and making proposals for the next three-year cycle, including a new set of Integrated Guidelines, country-specific recommendations and a new Community Lisbon programme. The European Council calls for work to be taken forward speedily in order to launch the next cycle at its meeting in March 2008.

The European Council underlines the role of the new Community Lisbon Programme for the partnership approach. This Programme must add value at Community level to improve the coherence of reforms and maximise positive spill over effects.

The Lisbon Strategy is delivering. The four priority areas of reform identified by the European Council in Spring 2006 continue to be valid: knowledge and innovation, business environment, employment and energy and climate change. Thus, whilst evolving challenges need to be addressed, the Integrated Guidelines do not need a fundamental overhaul. The main focus of the new cycle of the Lisbon Strategy should be on implementation and delivery of reform. Preliminary discussions at Council level have already identified the need for appropriate action in areas such as European Research, innovation mechanisms, SMEs, the Single Market, competition, public administration modernisation, education and skills, flexicurity, measures to boost labour participation, social inclusion, territorial cohesion, energy, climate change, the visibility of the social dimension, sustainability and quality of public finances. This effort should address the national, the Community and the external level of action.

The role of the regional level to deliver growth and jobs should also be increased, as recognised in the new generation of programmes of the cohesion policy covering the period 2007-2013. The Lisbon toolbox should be fully used by strengthening the existing horizontal coordination, developing tailor-made communication and involving all relevant stakeholders.

Promoting the knowledge triangle (education-research-innovation) is central for the Europe of the future and for the development of knowledge-based economies.

The European Council accordingly welcomes the setting-up of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and of the first Joint Technology Initiatives, as innovative public-private partnerships in strategic areas. It calls on Member States to engage more actively in the implementation of pan-European research infrastructures.

Human resources for science and technology in Europe need to be increased and the attractiveness of Europe for highly qualified scientists boosted: the European Council therefore endorses the conclusions agreed by the Council in November 2007 on the future of science and technology in Europe, as well as on the modernisation of the universities. Recalling the broad-based innovation strategy adopted in 2006, the European Council stresses the relevance of the Commission's initiatives relating to public procurement and innovation in services and invites it to complement them with the remaining expected initiatives.

Delivering lifelong learning to all citizens is, alongside its social dimension, of particular importance for more and better jobs. Accordingly, Member States and the Commission should give priority to the implementation of the Education and Training work programme and the European Qualifications Framework as well as the "New Skills for New Jobs" initiative and to promoting greater mobility.

The European Council confirms the integrated decision of the Council on the financing, governance, and procurement policy for the European satellite navigation programmes EGNOS and Galileo. This key project for the EU will deliver by 2013 a global satellite navigation infrastructure, creating improved economic efficiencies, highly qualified jobs, and new opportunities for advanced services and applications throughout the EU.

The European Council endorses the European Agenda for Culture which constitutes an important step towards increasing coherence and visibility of the EU's action in this field, while maximising the potential of cultural and creative industries especially as far as SMEs are concerned, therefore contributing to the aims of the Lisbon Agenda.

The Single Market has been an undisputed success and remains a pre-requisite for growth and prosperity within the Union. Recalling the conclusions of the Competitiveness Council on 22/23 November 2007, the European Council stresses that an integrated approach to European Competitiveness should be fostered by a sustainable industrial policy, combined with innovation and skills, while developing its external dimension in order to ensure a level playing field. More needs to be done to untap the full potential of an enlarged Union, inter alia, by addressing the remaining barriers and by allowing consumers and SMEs to take full advantage of the opportunities of the Single Market. In order to promote European competitiveness in a globalised world, the Single Market also needs to become more outward looking. The European Council welcomes the recent presentation by the Commission of the Single Market Review, accompanied by a Communication on Services of general interest including social services of general interest, and invites the Council to examine the initiatives set out in the Review so as to enable it to reach conclusions for priorities for further action at its Spring 2008 meeting.

The European Council stresses the crucial role that tourism plays in generating growth and jobs in the EU and calls on the Commission, Member States, industry and other stakeholders to join forces in the timely implementation of the recently adopted Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism.

The framework conditions for business, in particular SMEs, must continue to be improved. The European Council welcomes the Commission's intention to present a communication on a "Small Business Act for Europe" in 2008 with the aim of unlocking the full potential of SMEs. As regards the Better Regulation agenda, the European Council welcomes progress made towards the joint reduction target of 25% of administrative burdens by 2012 arising from EU legislation and urges those Members States who have not yet done so, to set national targets of comparable ambition by 2008, taking into account the different starting points and traditions and particular importance of this exercise for SMEs. The modernisation of public administration is key to improve efficiency and effectiveness of public finances. Reforms in this area should therefore undergo regular analysis and exchange of best practices in particular in the context of the Lisbon National Reform Programmes. In this context, the potential of e Government initiatives should be explored, in accordance with the four policy actions set out in the Ministerial Declaration (Lisbon, September 2007).

The European Council, in view of the recent developments in the financial markets, emphasises that macroeconomic fundamentals in the EU are strong and that sustained economic growth is expected. Continued monitoring of financial markets and the economy is crucial, as uncertainties remain. The European Council underlines the importance of the themes identified in the work programme adopted by the Council on 9 October 2007 aimed at, alongside the EU's international partners, improving transparency for investors, markets and regulators, improving valuation standards, improving the prudential framework, risk management and supervision in the financial sector as well as reviewing the functioning of markets, including the role of credit agencies. The European Council welcomes the significant steps adopted regarding the enhancement of EU arrangements for financial stability and strongly encourages their appropriate follow-up. It will come back to these issues at its Spring 2008 meeting on the basis of a progress report.

In the employment and social policy area, the European Council endorses the agreement on the common principles on flexicurity reached in the Council on 5/6 December 2007 and invites Member States to take these principles into good account when developing and implementing national flexicurity-orientated policies. The European Council welcomes the joint analysis of the European social partners on the labour markets and underlines their important role in the design, implementation and monitoring of flexicurity policies. It also welcomes the ongoing consultations on the social reality stocktaking, which pave the way for a renewed and modern Social Agenda for Europe. The life-cycle approach to work should be developed by fostering active ageing and the modernisation of pension systems, to ensure financial, economic and social sustainability by making the Youth Pact and the Gender Pact more operational including effective monitoring and mainstreaming, as well as by exploiting the possibilities offered by the European Alliance for Families. The European Council welcomes the recent developments regarding structured dialogue and participation of young people in decision-making process at the European Level.

Active inclusion policies should combine integration in the labour markets, mobility of the workforce, motivation to actively search for a job, adequate income support and quality, accessible and effective social services. The European Council also reaffirms its commitment with the decent work agenda as a global instrument to promote employment, better labour standards and foster development. The European Council welcomes the results of the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All and invites Member States to strengthen efforts to prevent and combat discrimination inside and outside the labour market. In this connection the European Council, conscious of the very specific situation faced by the Roma across the Union, invites Member States and the Union to use all means to improve their inclusion. To this end it invites the Commission to examine existing policies and instruments and to report to the Council on progress achieved before the end of June 2008.

With respect to energy and climate change, the European Council reiterates the importance of implementing, in line with its March 2007 conclusions, all aspects of the comprehensive 2007 2009 Action Plan endorsed last Spring with a view to taking forward the three objectives of the Energy Policy for Europe: security of supply, competitiveness and climate change.

It accordingly:

takes note of the Commission's communication "A Strategic Energy Technology Plan" (SET-Plan) as well as the vision-paper on Energy Technologies; work should be taken forward towards providing a framework that facilitates the speed up of technological change including strategic planning, more effective implementation, increase in resources and a reinforced approach to international cooperation regarding innovation in low carbon technologies;

notes the progress achieved in the discussions on the 3rd internal market package for gas and electricity to be pursued swiftly with a view to timely agreement in the course of 2008;

as far as renewable energy and climate change-related instruments are concerned, looks forward to the Commission's second set of legislative proposals, due in January 2008, and stresses the importance of timely agreement on those proposals.

The European Council stresses the need to ensure the coherence of EU policies, including by promoting a sustainable transport system as set out in its conclusions of June 2007.

The Bali Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change must respond to the urgent need for global action as identified in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and agree to launch negotiations leading to a global, comprehensive and effective post-2012 agreement by 2009. In this connection the European Council recalls the Council conclusions of 30 October 2007 which set out in detail the objectives and elements which the Union is convinced should form part of the future agreement and which should guide the negotiating process.

The European Council also recalls the Council Conclusions of 19-20 November on Global Climate Change Alliance between the EU and developing countries which will provide a platform for dialogue and cooperation in the areas of adaptation to climate change and promoting disaster risk reduction and integrating climate change into poverty reduction efforts in the most vulnerable countries.

Sustainable development is a fundamental objective of the European Union. The European Council welcomes the Commission's first progress report on the renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS). It agrees that the objectives and priorities under the seven key challenges contained in that strategy remain fully valid and that the main focus should therefore be on effective implementation at all levels. The renewed EU Strategy and national strategies for sustainable development also need to be linked up more closely. The governance structure and tools of the SDS, in particular in relation to monitoring of progress and best practice sharing, must be fully used and strengthened. The EU's integrated climate and energy policy and an integrated approach to the sustainable management of natural resources, the protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services and sustainable production and consumption are among the drivers for achieving objectives under both the SDS and the Lisbon strategy. The EU must continue to work to move towards more sustainable transport and environmentally-friendly transport modes. The Commission is invited to present a roadmap together with its next Progress Report in June 2009 on the SDS setting out the remaining actions to be implemented with highest priority.

The European Council welcomes the Council conclusions on water scarcity and drought and invites the Commission to present a report in 2008 and, on this basis, to review and further develop the evolving EU strategy by 2012, taking into account the international dimension. It also acknowledges the need to reinforce the link between Business and Biodiversity at European level, welcoming the EU Business and Biodiversity Initiative and the commitment from the Commission to provide technical support.

The European Council welcomes the Commission Communication on an integrated maritime policy for the European Union and the proposed Action Plan which sets out the first concrete steps in developing an integrated approach to maritime affairs. The broad participation in the preceding public consultation and the comprehensive debate at the Lisbon Ministerial Conference reflected the interest which stakeholders show for the development of such a policy. The future integrated maritime policy should ensure synergies and coherence between sectorial policies, bring added value and fully respect the principle of subsidiarity. Furthermore it should be developed as a tool to address the challenges facing Europe's sustainable development and competitiveness. It should take particularly account of the different specificities of Member States and specific maritime regions which should call for increased cooperation, including islands, archipelagos and outermost regions as well as of the international dimension. The European Council welcomes the conclusion of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive as the environmental pillar of this policy. The European Council invites the Commission to come forward with the initiatives and proposals contained in the Action Plan and calls on the future Presidencies to work on the establishment of an integrated maritime policy for the Union. The Commission is invited to report on progress achieved to the European Council at the end of 2009.

Without prejudice to the integrated maritime policy, the European Council invites the Commission to present an EU strategy for the Baltic Sea region at the latest by June 2009. This strategy should inter alia help to address the urgent environmental challenges related to the Baltic Sea. The Northern Dimension framework provides the basis for the external aspects of cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.

The European Council welcomes the Commission report on the 2004 Strategy for the Outermost Regions stating its positive results and presenting the future prospects for Community actions in those regions. The European Council looks forward to the conclusions of the public consultation launched and invites the Commission to present the relevant proposals at the latest in October 2008.

The European Council welcomes the 4th Cohesion Report and stresses the importance of the debate on the future of this fundamental policy, started in the Cohesion Forum, in September, and pursued in the informal ministerial meeting on Regional Policy, in November.

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