Allianz SE, one of Europe’s leading financial-service providers, and the Lisbon Council, a Brussels-based think tank, today release the 2008 European Growth and Jobs Monitor: Indicators of Success in the Knowledge Economy, the second edition of its authoritative competitiveness ranking.

The study looks at how the EU’s 14 largest economies – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom – perform in reaching goals set out in, or derived from, the so-called Lisbon Agenda. It ranks countries according to key criteria decisive for success in the 21st century: economic growth, productivity growth, employment, human capital, future-oriented investment and fiscal sustainability.

In a special section prepared for this year’s edition, the study looks at the economic impact of strong environmental standards, and shows that – far from harming Europe’s long-term competitiveness – energy efficiency will be a driver of future growth. It adds that the EU can benefit from "first-mover advantage” with regards to eco-innovation and application of new technologies.

- Assuming that current performance can be upheld, the EU-15 looks to be on course to meet its Lisbon Agenda goals, as demonstrated by the current overall score of 1.05 – up from 0.89, or 89 percent, at the end of 2006.
- Only three of the countries surveyed – France, Austria and Italy – are currently not on track to meet their Lisbon targets.
- Finland tops the ranking, with high marks on economic growth, labour productivity, human capital and fiscal sustainability; the study suggests that Finland will comfortably overshoot the Lisbon targets.
- Italy is at the bottom of the list, scoring particularly poorly in economic growth, skilled labor, labor productivity and sustainability of public finances.
- France comes in at No. 12 (third to last). The main reasons: sluggish growth and weak public finances.
- The first new EU member state to be included in the ranking, Poland, debuts at No. 5, despite a very mixed performance on sub-indicators. Poland is strong on economic and productivity growth, but scores poorly on employment rate and educational qualifications.
- Eleven countries currently boast faster productivity growth than in the United States – a remarkable shift, particularly in view of Europe’s "jobs miracle", the creation of six million new jobs in the last two years alone.
- A highly skilled workforce is becoming a key competitive advantage, with Finland, Belgium and Ireland scoring highest on the respective Lisbon sub-indicator.
- Many European countries have not used the recent economic recovery to consolidate their public finances sufficiently and prepare for future challenges, particularly the coming demographic crunch.

Says Michael Heise, chief economist of Allianz SE and principal author of the study: "Europe can look back on remarkable economic growth since early 2006. We are now outpacing the United States in economic growth and productivity – unthinkable only two years ago. But turbulence in global markets means we must not go wobbly now. The worst response to the global turmoil would be to abandon the policies that made Europe successful at precisely the moment when they have begun to work. Our unequivocal message is: stay the course and use the Lisbon Agenda to strengthen our lead and consolidate our advances."

Adds Paul Hofheinz, president of the Lisbon Council: "We welcome the increased emphasis on human capital and energy efficiency in the Lisbon cycle 2008-2010. As our study shows, high environmental standards are not a brake on Europe’s competitiveness. To the contrary, these standards will create new markets and give innovative companies the opportunity to develop true global leadership in this field. Over time, higher energy efficiency promotes higher total factor productivity – and that can only be a good thing: high productivity generates wealth, creates jobs and contributes to our overall economic well-being.”

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