Tania Zgajewski THE RESULTS OF THE LISBON STRATEGY Globally limited results How much has been achieved so far? Here, we need to look first at the global results and then distinguish between the results at the EC level and the results at the level of the member states. Globally, the results are limited. Economic growth has not been impressive. R&D remains more or less constant. Structural reforms remain limited. Nothing in these limited results is surprising. We have a basic equation with no unknown element: fewer ambitions+ fewer means+ no positive perspectives= limited results. However, if the results are limited, they are not completely negative. Europe has begun a phase of structural adjustment to the ICT, to globalisation, to the rise of energy costs, to the rise of social security costs. There remains some modest growth. The huge difference between the EC and national levels At the EC and at the member state levels, there is a strong difference in the delivery of the results. At the EC level, a lot of the measures which were announced in 2000 were adopted between 2000 and 2005. So there are results. They concern more specifically sectors which were opened late to competition. These are the transport, electronic communications and energy sectors. The market opening has been broadened for railways and airlines, as well as for gas and electricity thanks to the adoption of new instruments. A new regulatory framework has been adopted and implemented for electronic communications. No need to say how much telecommunications and the Internet are essential for the expansion of ICT and thus for productivity. So at the EC level, the appraisal is not bad since some things have changed. At the member states level, the results are obviously not as good as at the EC level. Structural reforms on employment, pensions and training have only started(particularly in the smaller countries). Concerning R&D, member states are no better than the EC. There is not much improvement. On the OMC, one could say that the method is so open that there is not much coordination (Collignon, Dehousse, Gabolde, Jouen et al., 2005; Georgopoulos, 2005; Goetschy, 2004; Pochet, 2001). For example, in Belgium we had a debate on “ prépensions”(early retirement). The question concerned the increase of the age of early retirement from 58 to 60 years old. This debate was held without any 66