President Barroso spells out European Commission's objectives for the next ten years
March 25, 2010 1:29 PM
Jose Manuel Barroso - President of the European Commission
Earlier this month, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, unveiled the details of the European Union 2020 strategy. Five targets have been set in order to deliver the desired objective of economic growth:
Flag of the European Union of 27 sovereign countries
1.Raising employment up to 75%.
2.Raising the resources invested in Research & Development to 3% of the EU's GDP.
3.Meeting the "20/20/20" climate/energy targets with consequential reduction of emission.
4.Bringing the share of early school leavers down to under 10% and raising the percentage of young people holding a tertiary degree to at least 40%.
5.Reducing the number of people living below the poverty line by 20 million.
President Barroso underlined the need for more co-operation amongst member states in order to reach the Europe 2020 objectives and the surveillance role of the Commission which will have the responsibility of recommending and warning member states in case of "inadequate response".
Wantage and Didcot Lib Dem spokesman Alan Armitage said: "This statement of objectives demonstrates impressive ambition on the part of the European Commission, and I believe they are the right set of priorities. It is a shame that there has been so little coverage in the British media of Mr Barroso's speech, which is at least as important for Britain's future as Mr Darling's budget speech, or anything being said by David Cameron. There is a vital role for the European Parliament in keeping the Commission focused on these objectives, and I am proud that the British Liberal Democrat group of MEPs have so much influence in the parliament to make sure the right things happen."
To read the opening remarks given by President Barroso at the press conference on Europe 2020 on 3 March 2010 please follow the link: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/10/60
On 10 February the new European Commission was finally appointed with the approval by the European Parliament. The new Commission will be in place until 31 October 2014. Despite the initial intention in the Treaty of Lisbon of reducing the number of Commissioners, the European Council decided in June 2009 to keep one Commissioner per member state in order to overcome Irish doubts about the Treaty.
The following eight commissioners belong to Liberal Democrat affiliated parties in Europe:
Siim Kallas (Commission Vice President): Transport;
Neelie Kroes (Commission Vice President): Digital agenda;
Máire Geoghegan Quinn: Research, science & innovation;
Karel De Gucht: Trade;
Cecilia Malmström: Home affairs;
Janez Potocnik: Environment;
Olli Rehn: Economic / monetary affairs;
Androulla Vassiliou: Education culture, multilingualism and youth.
For more information about the new Commission and to find out about the recently appointed 27 Commissioners, please consult the European Commission's official website and the Senior European Experts Group's briefing on our website:
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