Date of release : 03-03-2005

Policy area : Competitiveness (Internal market, Industry and Research) Competitiveness (Internal market, Industry and Research)

On 3 March 2005, in Brussels, the Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Nicolas Schmit, attended the opening of the conference entitled "Cohesion and the Lisbon Agenda: the Role of the Regions." This conference was held in the presence of the President of the Commission and the commissioner responsible for regional policy.

Among the many guests were elected officials from Europe’s 254 regions, stakeholders in regional policy and various experts. The topics of discussion were the mid-term evaluation of the Lisbon Strategy (the Kok Report), competitiveness and governance, as well as the regions’ innovative potential.

In his introductory speech, Nicolas Schmit praised the various European institutions for their participation in this conference and deemed "the Commission’s approach extremely motivating and important in the build up to the European Council’s spring meeting." The Minister recognised that the cohesion policy is "one of Europe’s great policies" and emphasized the close link between the Lisbon Strategy, the cohesion policy and the financial perspectives. He reaffirmed that the Presidency shared the views of the recent Commission communication on the Lisbon Strategy, and agreed on the necessity to better communicate the real stakes of this strategy, namely growth and the maintenance of the social model.

With regard to the assessment of the Lisbon Strategy, Minister Schmit spoke of a need to "refocus priorities, while observing the necessity of maintaining the globality of the strategy."

For the Minister, there is no doubt that the regional dimension is of great importance in this process. Nicolas Schmit expressed in particular "the need for a regional approach for a more effective Lisbon Strategy."

For the Minister, the success of the Lisbon Agenda lies in a "challenge of solidarity, stability and territorial cohesion that the Luxembourg Presidency has decided to meet as best it can by creating a positive political dynamic from the European Spring Council onwards. The European Union has a unique opportunity because it can prove that it is capable of giving itself a vision to preserve its social model."

In this context, the financial perspectives are of utmost importance. "If Europe wants to be credible, to create a reform process and to re-define a macroeconomic framework, it cannot fail financially," Minister Schmit stated. "Europe is in a growth scenario," he added, and "it will not be credible if on the one hand it sets macroeconomic objectives and at the same time fails financially."