Višnja Samardžija The Lisbon Strategy and the effectiveness of new EU member states The new member states approached the Lisbon Strategy in different ways during their accession process to the EU, but after becoming EU members they all had similar experiences in preparing the National Reform Programmes(NRPs). Namely, the relaunched strategy called for member states to produce comprehensive national reform programmes by November 2005, based on the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs(IGs). It is still too early to estimate to what extent progress has been achieved at national level, and in which particular areas. Although the approach was basically the same in all the member states, the preparation process(consultation procedures), the extent to which the IGs were used, the exposition of new policies and the degree to which the NRPs concentrate on analysis and have realistic starting assumptions shows that NRPs differ to a great extent(Begg, 2006), even within the new member states. However, experiences that are relevant for Croatia as a candidate country for EU membership are not just the most recent attempts to prepare and effectively implement the NRPs. It is useful to get insight into the overall preparations of new member states to cope with the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy, including the development and main focus of their national strategic documents, and the organisational structures for implementation and monitoring of the process. Therefore the experiences of the new member states are particularly relevant, and the situation in three new member states was analysed(Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic). Slovenia is an interesting example for Croatia. Similar to other EU new member states, Slovenia has had to cope with a double challenge. After entering the Union, it had to accept equally all the challenges that apply to the whole EU, and, on the other hand, as a part of the less developed part of the EU, the country must also achieve the goal of bringing the economy to the level of the more developed countries. From an economic point of view, Slovenia has narrowed its development gap relative to the EU(81% of the average GDP per capita in PPS in the EU, according to Eurostat's estimate for 2005), but catching up has been too slow with respect to set objectives. Macroeconomic stability and economic growth provided good conditions for development and Slovenia recorded positive results in the area of the modern welfare state and employment. In order to achieve the Lisbon Strategy, Slovenia had to continue with structural reforms that will strengthen its competitiveness and raise employment levels, meaning 1 4