i2010 in context: ICT and Lisbon Strategy
 

When the Heads of States met at the Lisbon summit in March 2000, European Union leaders set out a new strategy, based on a consensus among Member States, to make Europe more dynamic and competitive. The initiative became known as the “Lisbon Strategy” and came to cover a very wide range of policies. The Strategy was relaunched in Spring 2005 after initially moderate results and became more focused on growth and jobs.

The Commission and Member States work closely together to implement this strategy, with a clear division of responsibilities:
 

• The Community Lisbon Programme - addresses European level reform.

• Member States undertake reforms at national level based on National Reform Programmes (NRPs) for 2008-2010. Those in turn are based on renewed "Integrated guidelines" 363 kB. Each year, Member States produce reports on the implementation of their NRPs.

• The Commission issues an Annual Progress Report assessing the implementation of National Reform Programmes and reviewing the Community Programme.
   

Moreover, the Commission launched a major Recovery Plan for growth and jobs in November 2008, to drive Europe's recovery from the current economic crisis.

 

For more information on the Lisbon strategy and key documents, see the Growth and Jobs website.

 

i2010 and Lisbon Strategy goals

i2010 is a package of policies aimed at harnessing the potential of ICT to drive innovation and productivity in Europe.

Presentation:  i2010 and Lisbon Strategy 112 kB

Each year the i2010 Annual Report assesses the economic impact of EU Member States' efforts to deploy ICT and provides a benchmark on the effectiveness of the Commission's policy to build sustainable economic growth in such technologies (see in particular the annexes).

 

The European Commission's Digital Competitiveness Report, published in August 2009, shows that Europe's digital sector has made strong progress since 2005, when the i2010 strategy was launched.

 

Other documents:
The significance of the ICT for growth and productivity was discussed by the i2010 High Level Group in 2006: The economic impact of ICT: evidence and questions.
 

In the context of the knowledge economy, an important report named eHealth and digital content among key areas, in which large scale strategic actions are needed to boost the EU's research and innovation performance: 2006 – Aho Group Report "Creating an Innovative Europe"
 

The economic impact of ICT on Europe's economic performance was underlined in the Commission's report on the impact of Lisbon Strategy (pages 35-36): The new Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs: an estimation of the economic impact of reaching five Lisbon Targets 514 kB
 

EU KLEMS (Productivity in the EU: a Comparative Industry Approach) is a new research project which created a database on measures of economic growth, productivity, employment creation, capital formation and technological change at the industry level for all EU member states from 1970 onwards.