Background: Former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok was mandated by the March 2004 European Council to lead a group of experts with the objective of reviewing the Lisbon strategy. In Lisbon, in 2000, the heads of states and government of the EU-15 decided to start an economic and social reform process with the ultimate aim of becoming by 2010 “the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, and respect for the environment”.

EuroActive unambiguously nails the point: 'the long-awaited mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy brings very few new ideas to the table to revitalise the stalled process of essential economic and social reforms.' How true (click here for an executive summary). I exploded the first time on page six after reading that Friedrich Verzetnitsch, President of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) was a member of Kok's "High Level Group". This guy has as much economic insight as Elfride Jelinek . I stopped reading on page 16 where one learns that:

At risk--in the medium to long run--is nothing less than the sustainability of the society Europe has build [Oh, finally got the message?] Europeans have made choices about how to express the values they hold in common: a commitment to the social contract that underwrites the risk of unemployment, ill-health and old age, and provides opportunity for all through high-quality education, a commitment to public institutions, the public realm and the public interest, and that a market economy should be run fairly STOOOOOOOOOP

Rotten to the core.