March 23, 2003	Sunday	Muharram 19, 1424

BRUSSELS, March 22: The European Union must start matching words with deeds if it is to achieve its ambition of becoming the world’s most dynamic economy, EU leaders were to say on Friday, according to a draft summmit declaration.

The heads of government, at a summit overshadowed by the US-led war on Iraq, welcomed “considerable progress” towards their goal of outstripping US economic competitiveness by 2010, said the draft conclusions seen by AFP.

Advances have been made on freeing up energy markets, introducing a single air-traffic control zone, modernising competition policy, putting in place an integrated EU-wide financial market, and finally achieving an EU-wide patent after three decades of negotiations.

Nonetheless, there is still a lot to do, the leaders said in the draft.

It is time, in particular, for the Union and the member states to fulfil their commitments regarding economic reforms by translating words into action.

The 2010 target was set at an EU summit in the Portuguese capital Lisbon three years ago.

Back in 2000, at the height of the “dotcom” bubble, the talk was all about “realising Europe’s full e-potential.”

By embarking on far-reaching structural reforms, by forging a “knowledge-based economy” and by encouraging innovation, the EU would soon be enjoying economic growth rates of three percent a year, the 15-nation bloc promised.

But that outcome looks as distant as ever as the EU struggles to overcome an economic slowdown that risks being exacerbated by the war on Iraq.

The leaders’ draft statement acknowledges the new threats to their faltering economies.

The economic slowdown has lasted longer than anticipated and the outlook is clouded by economic uncertainties and global political risks, it says.

In the current environment, sound macroeconomic policies must be pursued in order to restore confidence and economic growth.

However, according to the European Commission, France notably is refusing to implement reforms in the face of the economic slowdown.

Along with Germany and Portugal, France has incurred the wrath of the EU’s executive arm for allowing its budget deficit to overshoot limits laid down in the euro zone’s Stability and Growth Pact. —AFP