Is the EU maintaining its target of becoming the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010?
The key aim is getting into a rhythm of high sustainable annual growth and low unemployment by 2010. If the US does even better that will not mean the EU strategy has failed. Rather, it will be good news for us all. Nevertheless, the Commission is well aware that Europe needs to compete better. US GDP has increased by 2.7 % annually since 2000 and the EUs by only 1.7%. However, in terms of GDP per capita, the growth gap is smaller (1.7% in the US as opposed to 1.6% in the EU). Possibly even more importantly, the productivity gap has continued to widen. 2010 remains a good time to take stock and there are plenty of ways of measuring has growth increased, has employment gone up being the two simplest yardsticks.
