Goal: hitting targets on competitiveness

Europe's competitiveness will remain high on the agenda during Austria's presidency of the EU, particularly as the European Commission is to publish its first annual progress report on how member states are progressing with the implementation of the Lisbon Agenda.

In October member states submitted their national reform programmes, as part of the revamp of the Lisbon Agenda. Those programmes will form the basis for the Commission's assessment.

Austria will be charged with the task of keeping everyone up to scratch ahead of the Spring European Council of 23-24 March, where EU leaders will look at key lessons from the national reports.

One of the most thorny issues facing the presidency will be EU plans to liberalise its services market. Already the subject of a fierce battle in the European Parliament - which still has to vote on a final text in February's plenary session - Austria's role should be to guide member states towards political agreement.

Taking a neutral stance could prove problematic for Austria's Industry and Labour Minister Martin Bartenstein. Austria, which shares borders with the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary has always been sensitive on the issue of the migration of workers. The fears awakened by critics of the services directive, of cheap labour migrating from new member states, play strongly in Austria.

Conservative and Liberal MEPs in the Parliament's internal market committee have already voted down the Socialists, backing plans to allow a company to operate in another member state according to the law in its home country, under the country of origin principle.

They also voted to include services of general interest such as energy or water in the scope of the directive, although gambling, audiovisual and healthcare will be excluded.

But last month Bartenstein called on the European Commission to submit a new proposal, saying that getting EU capitals to agree on the text in its current form would be a "miracle". Austria, France and others, he said, would fight for exceptions and exemptions to "exclude wage dumping and social dumping".

The incoming presidency has already said that reform of the EU social model will be one of its top priorities. Austria has traditionally had generous social protection. In January the presidency will hold a ministerial meeting to exchange ideas about 'flexicurity', which offers the prospect of both flexibility for employers and social protection for workers.

Agreement may be reached on other employment issues, including the Commission's October proposal to improve the portability of supplementary pension rights for workers moving around the EU. Less likely is a deal on working time, which again stalled during the UK presidency, although it may appear on the agenda later in the presidency's tenure.

Financial services will also be on the Austrians' radar screen, as they try to take forward rules for the EU market in consumer credit, based on the Commission's third amended proposal published in October. But as MEPs are still fighting over whether to take the proposal back to a first reading, it may fall to the Finnish presidency in the second half of 2006 to close a deal.

National governments will try to secure agreement on the Commission's new legal framework for EU payments which aims to enable EU citizens to make payments anywhere in the EU as cheaply and quickly as they do at home. While controversy over this issue was largely ironed out before the final proposal was published earlier this month, banks may still oppose plans to cut the time it takes to make international transfers to 24 hours from three days.

Vienna is throwing its weight behind revisions of the EU banking directive, which should limit the scope of Europe's national banking regulators to block cross-border mergers. The subject has been given added political significance by the debacle earlier this year over the attempted takeover of two Italian banks.

Officials could also be involved in the preparatory work for an agreement on the post-trade securities market, known as clearing and settlement, although the Commission has not yet confirmed whether it will publish a legislative proposal.

Technology

• Although the European Commission's review of electronic communications policy will not appear until later in 2006, the Austrian presidency has pledged to raise the profile of the issue during its six-month tenure
• On 9 February, the presidency is hosting a conference that will provide a showcase for examples of engaging citizens and businesses in online public services and looking at the benefits of new technologies such as electronic ID
• The following day the Commission and the presidency will stage an event looking at where best to invest in order to boost confidence in using the internet and reduce online threats
• In March, a further event will be held, looking at creative content, as new media operators are increasingly realising that their survival depends on providing content that consumers want to download
• The presidency will also try to advance the revised Television Without Frontiers directive - the new broadcasting rules for both traditional and new media - through the Parliament and will chair Council working groups discussing the issue

Article is part of a European Voice Special Report previewing the Austrian Presidency of the European Union, January - June 2006.

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