Barroso ditches slogan of outstripping US
Commission presi dent, will today set out plans for Europe to take on US dominance in university research, but will finally ditch the pretence that the European Union can outstrip America's economy by 2010.
Mr Barroso will set out a pared down plan for EU eco nomic reform, focusing heavily on jobs, growth and research, marking a signifi cant shift in priorities.
Other EU targets on social policy and the environment will take a back seat, as Mr Barroso attempts to per suade national leaders to adopt and implement national growth plans when they meet in Brussels in March.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Barroso set out an agenda of boost ing competition, freeing up Europe's single market in services and regulating only where necessary. He said a top priority would be to raise Europe's research base, and the Commission would help create more top-flight inter national universities in the EU. “We need at least one Massachusetts Institute of Technology there will be some flagships sharing that idea,” he said.
Mr Barroso, a former poli tics professor at Georgetown University in the US, said: “The one thing that strikes me is that the best research ers aren't in Europe.”
The former Portuguese prime minister, who wants his five-year term judged on the delivery of economic reform, will lay to rest the ill-fated boast by EU leaders that Europe could overtake the US “as the world's most competitive, knowledge- based economy” by 2010. “We should avoid slogans that put at risk the credibil ity of the whole exercise,” he said.
Aides confirmed the ambi tious wording of the 2010 tar get would not be repeated in today's plan, however Mr Barroso will preserve a num ber of detailed targets for 2010, including the raising of research spending and employment rates.
Mr Barroso's focus on jobs and growth marks a change in approach for the EU exec utive, which in the past has championed calls for greater power for Brussels.
While Romano Prodi, his Italian predecessor, wanted to remove national vetoes in foreign policy and economic policy, Mr Barroso criticised the “naive federalists” who saw the nation state as “evil”. “I think we should have ‘ever closer union', but the basic legitimacy of our union is the member states,” he said.
Mr Barroso believes the EU needs time to digest what it has already achieved, and that applies to having a break before fur ther enlargements: he said the EU would help Ukraine, but offered no prospect of membership.
■ Some of the world's larg est media companies are urging Mr Barroso to tackle piracy and cut regulation as part of his re-launched “Lis bon strategy” to bolster EU competitiveness, writes Tim Burt in London.
Groups including Medi aset, Lagardère, EMI and Bertelsmann say that “high regulatory burdens, heavy social costs and taxation lev els make it difficult to com pete on equal terms with the US and other regions”.
欧盟放弃赶超美国口号
欧盟委员会主席若泽?曼努埃尔?巴罗佐(José Manuel Barroso)今天将宣布一系列挑战美国大学研究主导地位的计划，但他将最终放弃欧盟到2010年超越美国经济的口号。
巴罗佐先生将宣布一份关于欧盟经济改革计划。这份已被裁减的计划将重点放在就业、经济增长和研究上，这标志着欧盟的工作重点出现了重大改变。
欧盟各国领导人3月份在布鲁塞尔召开会议时，巴罗佐先生将试图说服他们采用并贯彻国民经济增长计划，而欧盟的社会政策和环境目标将退居次席。
在接受本报采访时，巴罗佐先生描述了这样一个日程表：促进竞争、开放欧洲服务领域单一市场，并只在必要领域进行监管。他表示，加强欧洲的研究基础将是首要考虑，欧盟委员会将帮助在欧盟创建更多的一流国际大学。“我们需要至少一所麻省理工学院，”他说。
曾在美国乔治敦大学任政治学教授的巴罗佐先生表示：“令我震惊的是最好的研究人员不在欧洲。”
巴罗佐先生曾任葡萄牙总理，他希望人们将以他推行经济改革的程度来评价他的5年任期。他将放弃前任欧盟领袖们的大话，即欧洲可在2010年超过美国，成为“世界上最有竞争力的知识经济体”。他说：“我们应当避免使用那些危及整项事业可信度的口号。”
巴罗佐先生的助手们证实，有关2010年目标的那些宏伟措辞将不会再次出现在今天的计划中，但巴罗佐先生将保留2010年计划中的不少具体目标，包括增加研究支出、提高就业率。
巴罗佐先生将重点放在就业和经济增长上，这标志着欧盟首脑的风格有所改变。他的前任曾支持让欧盟委员会拥有更大权力。
