BUSINESSEUROPE presented officially the "European Reform Barometer - spring 2010" at a press conference today.

"This report confirms the strong commitment of the European business community to cultivate a true benchmarking culture within the European Union and at the global level. 

The EU’s pledge to exit from the crisis and support greater prosperity, job creation and economic stability on our continent will only be credible if it is ready to tackle structural impediments to growth at both EU and national level. This is where Europe’s untapped potential lies and is a necessary condition to restore fiscal sustainability and uphold Europe’s social model. It will require strong resolve for policy-makers to implement the necessary reforms and promote their benefits to society.

Benchmarking is a powerful device to pin down structural weaknesses at the national level, identify priority areas for reform and foster policy learning across countries. It must be used both to communicate the gains of reforms and to exert pressure on governments tempted to shift the burden of adjustments into the future.

Previous attempts to coordinate structural reforms in the European context have failed mainly due to weak political ownership and accountability. This was the core reason for the disappointing results of the Lisbon Strategy launched in 2000 and expiring in 2010. This failure has dealt a blow to the credibility of the EU and its capacity to successfully coordinate national policies.

A new EU growth strategy is being put in place to get Europe back on the track of prosperity and job creation. Europe cannot afford to fall short of expectations once again.

EU leaders have, with this new EU growth strategy, the chance to plant the seeds for a more effective system of governance to tackle the immense challenges ahead. Benchmarking and greater tenacity of EU institutions to name good performers and shame countries falling short of their commitments will need to be a key pillar of such a governance structure.

The report presents an evaluation of EU’s performance and individual country position on key structural indicators in 2009, and their relative evolution since 2008. It then presents reform priorities as indentified by BUSINESSEUROPE members to exit the crisis and address the main growth bottlenecks at the Member State level.

The report concludes with recommendations regarding ways of improving governance instruments for the new EU growth strategy."