COMPETITIVENESS COUNCIL : RECOVERY PLAN GOOD BASIS FOR DISCUSSION, SAYS VONDRA.

• Position: Brief article

At the Competitiveness Council in Brussels, on 1 December, the ministers responsible for the internal market held an exchange of views over lunch on the European Commission's 26 November communication entitled The Lisbon strategy: A European plan to boost growth and employment' from the point of view of European competitiveness. According to Council sources, none of the ministers were opposed to the recovery plans and all agreed on the need for the EU to establish a broader framework for a coordinated reaction to the financial crisis. However, the ministers did not adopt an official statement.

During the exchange of views at the Competitiveness Council, the focus was on the implementation of the plan, in particular within the framework of the Stability and Growth Pact. Alexandr Vondra, Czech deputy prime minister for European affairs, told journalists after the meeting that the plan is a good basis for discussion and that some of the arrangements in it were "not bad". Vondra added that Prague is...