The Lisbon Strategy in the Wider European Context THE LISBON STRATEGY IN THE WIDER EUROPEAN CONTEXT Višnja Samardžija Institute for International Relations Zagreb SUMMARY The paper presents an overview of key focuses in papers presented at the international conference“Reforms in Lisbon Strategy Implementation: Eco­nomic and Social Dimensions”. Its aim is to give an introduction to authors' contributions, putting them into the context of the overall debates that were held during the conference. The key message is that the initial Lisbon Strategy has not been a success due to the lack of political leadership, commitment and ownership on the part of member states, but also due to bad governance and lack of prioritisation. Hopefully the reforms following the mid-term review will result in improved delivery and better results thanks to the more focused objectives, clearer planning and stronger ownership of the process in member states. The experiences and achievements in implementation of the strategy in EU member states show that the situation differs from country to country. Good practice in new member states is particularly useful for Croatia. Although not obligatory, the Lisbon Agenda objectives are relevant for Croatia in the pre-accession stage. The Lisbon Strategy does not introduce additional EU membership criteria but, as was announced in the Commission documents, its objectives will be reflected in the EU's policies towards the whole South-East European region in the areas that can be considered priorities for the countries' overall reforms. This paper continues with the key points from the authors' contributions, including an assessment of Croatia's progress in approaching the Lisbon goals. WILL EUROPE WIN THE LISBON STRATEGY? Due to inefficient implementation in many areas in its first stage, the Lisbon Strategy was seen as a synonym for failure in the EU. Its widely set goal to reach 9