Is the EU now promoting Growth and Jobs at the expense of the environment?
No. Lisbon aims for sustainable jobs and growth, not a short-term bubble to which social progress and environmental protection are sacrificed. Environmental protection does not have to be a brake on growth. It can be a motor for growth if Europe can obtain a first mover advantage in environmental technologies, for example, that can boost demand and bring in considerable export revenue. In the long-term, it is a condition without which growth cannot happen the planets resources are not infinite. The type of knowledge-based economy that is the basis of the Lisbon vision is cleaner, richer and more socially cohesive than what we have now. The Growth and Jobs Strategy and the EUs Sustainable Development Strategy (see IP/05/1582) are complementary. The key differences between the two are that Lisbon concentrates on economic and employment policy and is medium-term. The Sustainable Development Strategy is wider and long-term.
