The Lisbon Strategy: a Framework for Social Reform Agenda in the EU THE LISBON STRATEGY: A FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL REFORM AGENDA IN THE EU Christa Randzio-Plath University of Hamburg Hamburg SUMMARY The Lisbon Strategy so far has not been a success due to the lack of political leadership and ownership of the whole process. The reforms following the mid­term review in 2005 introduced three-year planning, watered-down objectives and instruments, and clearer cut orientation with the national reform programmes. These new elements hopefully will enable the strategy to produce better results. The Lisbon Strategy has often been reduced to“competitiveness” without understanding that deregulation, privatisation and other reforms can serve as a successful engine for growth only if the macroeconomic, social and employment conditions are not neglected. Macroeconomic reform is an essential component of any European-wide efforts towards sustainable growth and full employment. However, structural reforms will only result in more jobs and growth if improvements on the supply side of the economy are being matched with similar developments on the side of the aggregate demand. THE LISBON STRATEGY- CHALLENGES AND EXPECTATIONS The objectives of the Lisbon Strategy uphold the European social model reflecting 60 years of common values in making social development one of the pillars of sustainable development. The European social systems contain the common values of equality and solidarity as well as distribution-equity as fundamentals. Thus the difference between the European model and the US model is, as the American academic and bestseller author Jeremy Rifkin puts it in his book The European Dream(2004):“ Public goods and universal, free and cheap access for all citizens is crucial for a successful modern economy and a fair society. The objective is combining economic performance and competi­37