Ifo Brussels International Economic Forum (Ifo BrIEF)

Lisbon: Bringing the Goalposts Nearer

12 June 2007, Brussels, Belgium

Press release
Lisbon: Bringing the goalposts nearer - Almunia to address Ifo-CoR economic forum
Press release of 8 June 2007 by the Committee of the Regions (PDF, 108 KB)

1st Ifo BrIEF
Lisbon: Bringing the Goalposts Nearer
Documentation (PDF, 4.4 MB)

Video introduction to the conference series
with a summary of BrIEF 2007
Ifo Brussels International Economic Forum (Ifo BrIEF) 2007
Lisbon: Bringing the Goalposts Nearer
12 June 2007, Brussels
Media Library of the CESifo Group

The European Union’s Committee of the Regions and the Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich jointly hosted a conference in Brussels on 12 June 2007, aimed at injecting new thinking and new life into the EU’s Lisbon Strategy. The event, entitled “Lisbon: Bringing the Goalposts Nearer”, was the first in an annual conference series called Ifo BrIEF (Brussels International Economic Forum), which seeks to strengthen input from economic experts in European policy-making and to provide a platform for prominent decision-makers from the world of European politics to meet with renowned economists and discuss core questions pertaining to Europe’s future.

Opened by Ifo President Hans-Werner Sinn and Committee of the Regions Secretary- General Gerhard Stahl, the conference included contributions from Joaquín Almunia, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, Pervenche Berès, President of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Odile Quintin, Director-General for Education and Culture, Nikolaus van der Pas, Director General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunity, Martin Werding, Head of the Social Policy and Labour Markets Department of the Ifo Institute, and Ludger Woessmann, Head of the Human Capital and Innovation Department of the Ifo Institute.

The conference focussed on the implications of dramatic changes in the division of labour brought about by globalisation, the challenges posed by demographic change and the demands placed by the Lisbon Agenda on Europe’s education policy. Launched by the European Council in 2000, the Lisbon Strategy aims to make Europe the most competitive and the most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. A mid-term review of the policy in 2005 resulted in a sharper focus on two principal tasks – delivering stronger, lasting growth and creating more and better jobs.