Institutions, governance and economic growth in the EU: is there a role for the Lisbon strategy?

While European economic integration and in particular the single European market often appear to be only a smallest common denominator in the EU, they condition the economic policy framework facing Member States and have been instrumental in putting governance patterns into motion. The Lisbon Agenda is a case in point. Motivated by competitiveness concerns, it outlines an economic and social strategy meant to relaunch the EU within the changed setting of world-wide competition and a knowledgebased economy. Its success ultimately hinges on whether the necessary coordination to implement policies with an EU rationale can be achieved so as to realise the efficiency properties of the internal market.