The context for meeting the strategic Lisbon goal

Fragmentation has long been seen as a drawback to Europe's competitive edge. The Lisbon goals are facing resistance in the process of implementation by Europe's different, but sometimes intertwined, economic and social models.

Each EU member and accession country has shown its intention to make the Lisbon process integrated in a new impetus to reform its economic and social model. The challenge to the process is that, as yet, many of the models are not functioning as well as they could. Malta's model is no notable exception.

Nearly six months after Malta's accession to the EU the process of reforming the Maltese model is facing a combination of economic pressures and institutional inertia, while sometimes failing to capture the imagination and support of Maltese public opinion.

Restructuring in loss-making government enterprises, privatisation, proposals for a Social and Economic Pact, the National Action Plan for Employment, and proposals for Health Care and Pension Reforms, to mention but a few urgent issues, are in reality vital, and progress or lack of it in solving such issues articulate the progress made in the implementation of the far reaching goals contained in the Lisbon Strategy.

The social partners, through their involvement in the MCESD discussions with government, are setting an example and consolidating the co-ordination of a more concerted effort to implement broad economic and social policy guidelines; these guidelines can ultimately be expressed in a Social and Economic Pact.

Otherwise, the scenario allows for an increasing gap between policy proposal and delivery that would continue undermining the credibility of the reform of Malta's economic and social model. Eventually Malta's delivery on the Lisbon Objectives depends on the progress achieved by the social partners.

Economic and social policy guidelines should also give appropriate weight to priorities, the background against which the Lisbon strategy should initially be established. In fact, one sensible step for sustainable policy development calls for an analysis and assessment of Malta's indicators in areas of general economic background, innovation, research and knowledge society, economic reform, social cohesion, and the environment.

Future articles in this column are intended to examine the progress made on some of these indicators.