Lisbon Strategy

During the Lisbon European Council (March 2000), the Heads of State or Government launched the "Lisbon Strategy", a new strategic goal for the European Union to become, by 2010, the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.

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Lisbon European Council, March 2000

It was therefore fitting to take long-term measures on the basis of this outlook. Thanks to a favourable economic outlook, full employment seemed tangible in 2000. However, owing to the economic slowdown and structural problems in the Member States, the European Union is still lagging behind as regards these objectives.

In order to give new impetus to the Lisbon Strategy, in 2005 the Commission decided to focus attention to the actions needed to be taken rather than targets to be attained. This revised strategy is no longer based on all the targets set in 2000 since the Commission declared that the social and environmental aspects of the Lisbon Agenda were no longer a priority and that instead the strategy would be revised to focus on the economic context only.

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Working together for growth and jobs: A new start for the Lisbon Strategy

The current guidelines, which cover the period 2005-2008, are the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs for 2005 and 2008. The employment guidelines are the basis for national programmes. The employment component of the EU/s /Lisbon Programme/ entails all EU actions to promote knowledge and innovation.

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The Integrated Guidelines as part of the mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy
EU Member States Lisbon National Reform Programmes for Growth and Jobs 2005 – 2008

The Lisbon process provides in the case of Cyprus a long needed platform for a constructive dialogue on a broader reform agenda, which was missing so far. Government’s intention is the enhancement of the co-operation with the social partners, the political parties but also with other organized groups in the process of promoting the implementation of the Lisbon Programme.

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National Lisbon Programme of the Republic of Cyprus

THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING CONTRIBUTION TO THE LISBON STRATEGY

To achieve the ambitious goals of the Lisbon Strategy, Heads of States and Government asked for "not only a radical transformation of the European economy, but also a challenging programme for the modernisation of social welfare and education systems.

In 2002, the EU member states agreed that by 2010, Europe should be the world leader in terms of the quality of its education and training systems.
Ministers of education set three major goals to be achieved by 2010 for the benefit of the citizens and the EU as a whole

to improve the quality and effectiveness of EU education and training systems;
to ensure that they are accessible to all;
to open up education and training to the wider world.

To achieve these ambitious but realistic goals, they agreed on thirteen specific objectives covering the various types and levels of education and training aimed at making a reality of lifelong learning. Systems have to improve on all fronts: teacher training; basic skills; integration of Information and Communication Technologies; efficiency of investments; language learning; lifelong guidance; flexibility of the systems to make learning accessible to all, mobility, citizenship education, etc.

Following the mandate given by the European Council at its Barcelona meeting in March 2002, for the Council and the Commission to report to the Spring European Council in 2004 on the effective implementation of the detailed work Programme 2010 for education and training systems, the Council and the Commission adopted the joint interim report as set out herewith, for submission to the European Council in Brussels (25-26 March 2004).

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Education and Training 2010: The success of the Lisbon Strategy hinges on urgent reforms

In the 2004 Joint Interim Report, the Council (Education) and the European Commission called for urgent reforms of Europe's education and training systems. They undertook to review progress every two years on implementing the Education and Training 2010 work programme. The 2006 Joint Interim Report of the Council and of the Commission on progress under the ‘EDUCATION & TRAINING 2010’ work programme is the first in this new cycle. The analysis is based primarily on the 2005 national reports of the Member States, EFTA-EEA countries, and the acceding and candidate countries. It shows how reforms are contributing to the priority areas for action identified in the 2004 Joint Interim Report.

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Modernising Education and Training: A vital contribution to prosperity and social cohesion in Europe – 2006
National Report on the implementation of the programme “Education and Training 2010” - Cyprus Contribution to the Preparation of the 2006 Joint Council/ Commission Report