Prioriteiten EU-voorzitterschap Luxemburg: Hervorming Stabiliteitspact, Lissabon-proces, EU-budget 2007-2013 (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said on Monday (10 January) that he is facing the six-months of his Presidency of the EU with "a spirit of determination" but not "a spirit of optimism".

After meeting Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Mr Juncker said "I see these coming six months not with a spirit of optimism _ but in a spirit of determination", adding, "we are confident that, working hand-in-hand with the European Commission, we will be able to move Europe forward".

Mr Juncker explained the three main priorities of his Presidency were to push forward the so-called Lisbon process - the EU's aim to make itself the World's most competitive economy by 2010, reach agreement on the EU's funding for the period from 2007-2013 and see through successful reforms of the controversial rules underpinning the euro - the Stability and Growth Pact.

No reason for optimism

None of these tasks will be straightforward.

The European Commission has already released broad proposals to reform the Stability and Growth Pact - widely discredited after France and Germany repeatedly flouted its rules. Finance ministers from the 12 countries sharing the euro will meet in Brussels next Monday (17 January) to discuss how to improve the euro zone's fiscal framework.

They are expected to call for greater efforts to be made during times of strong economic growth to reduce budget deficits so that the Pact's limits are not broken in economic downturns.

Ministers are also thought to want a greater emphasis on debt levels rather than deficits.

Mid-term review

No less easy a task is breathing life into the Lisbon Process.

In March, Mr Juncker will publish a "mid-term review" of the progress towards achieving the Lisbon aims but with EU growth and competitiveness still far behind that of the US, the review unlikely to make for cheerful reading.

The Commission will present some ideas on how to propel the strategy forward on 2 February, Mr Juncker announced.

Hardest task of all?

But perhaps the hardest task of all will be to secure political agreement on the EU's funding from 2007-2013 by the end of June, a timetable which Mr Barroso described as "very ambitious".

Six countries - the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Austria - want to see EU spending during this period capped to one percent of gross national income (GNI).

But the Commission argues that enlargement has increased the need for EU funds and that it is not possible to have more Europe with less money - something repeated by the executive's president on Monday.

In addition, squabbles over how regional aid should be distributed are increasingly coming to the fore, with Spain and Poland at loggerheads. And there remains the thorny issue of the British rebate - negotiated in 1984 - which many now see as out of date.

However, Mr Juncker warned that it was now or never for agreement on this tricky issue. "If we do not complete this during the Luxembourg Presidency, it will be very difficult to achieve it during the next Presidencies", he said.

He added that negotiations would be "difficult" and "lengthy" and said that he was under "no illusions".

National interests aside

Despite the challenges, Mr Juncker stressed that Luxembourg would put aside national interests for the greater European good.

He said, "when a country holds the EU presidency, it must eliminate national interests, no matter how justified these are, and replace them with the search for a common interest which, in the end, is in the interests of all".