The Lisbon Strategy: What is Wrong? Weak adaptation to ICT Adaptation to the information society remains so far too limited in the countries of the European Union. From this point of view, it is interesting to notice that a good deal of limited productivity increases are linked to a very timid introduction of ICT in EU corporations(Gros, 2005). This seems connected to the weightier difficulty of introducing organisational changes in EU corporations(ECC, 2005). On the basis of these elements, there thus exists a fear that Europe will become a sort of museum for the economic experiences of the past. One could conclude that the countries which launched the Industrial Revolution do not know any more how to manage the next one. And this engenders the fear that Europe will become a sort of“Jurassic Europe”. The pink scenario This said, there is another way to present the reality of the European economy. This more hopeful way could be called“the pink scenario”. It reveals that things are not that dramatic. Indeed, in the present economic situation of Europe we can find positive elements(see Highlights from the Centre for European Reform Conference on the Future of the European Economy, 2005; Buhigas and Bouzon, 2005). This is particularly true in a more in-depth comparison with the US. A general negative comparison with the US has indeed become the motto of all official presentations of the Lisbon Strategy. Growth per working hour is not that bad It has often been said that growth has been stronger in the United States, and that is true. But which growth are we speaking about? During the last census in the United States, millions of people who had not been officially registered have suddenly been discovered. In fact, there has been a strong population growth in the United States, which explains a good part of the economic growth. When we compare the growth per inhabitant, the difference between the two zones(EU and US) diminishes strongly. This difference becomes still smaller if we take into consideration working hours on a yearly basis. From this point of view, the difference between Europeans and Americans is striking(Blanchard, 2005). Finally, we could also speak about productivity. In this case, we need to take into consideration multifactor productivity. From this point of view, according to the OECD Factbook 2006, there are much more important differences within the European Union than between the EU and the US. French people, for example, would be very surprised to learn that between 1991 and 2003 there has 61