EU leaders sought today to revive a strategy to boost competitiveness by 2010 via stronger pledges on labour and market reforms as war in Iraq clouded the outlook of the bloc's sluggish economy.
Three years ago, at the height of a decade-long economic expansion, EU leaders boldly pledged at a summit in Lisbon to turn the 15-nation EU into the world's most competitive economy within ten years, overtaking the United States.
But the leaders are expected to say in a statement later today at the end of a summit that this ambitious plan could falter in the face of economic and political uncertainties, making it all the more urgent that the EU stays on the reform track.
"Economic uncertainties and global political risks weigh heavily on the short-term outlook and have delayed recovery," a draft final statement of the Brussels summit said.
Although talks were overshadowed by the war, economists said they saw the leaders' gathering as an opportunity to inject new momentum into the EU's Lisbon 2000 agenda of reforms, which have been hampered by slow growth and lack of political will.
In Lisbon, they vowed to push average yearly growth to 3 per cent by 2010 and to raise the employment rate to 70 per cent, equal to creating 20 million new jobs.