After more than half a decade of economic gloom, the years 2006 and 2007 restored some much-needed optimism to Europe. Faster GDP growth and falling unemployment were at least partly due to the implementation of structural reform. But governments must not become complacent, especially at a time when a global downturn is set to test Europe’s economic resilience. The Lisbon Scorecard VIII shows how much EU member-states still have to do to encourage innovation, bring people into the workforce, cut greenhouse gases and meet their many other Lisbon targets.

Katinka Barysch is deputy director, Simon Tilford is chief economist, and Philip Whyte is a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

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10 March 2008
CER launch of 'The Lisbon scorecard VIII',
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