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UK National Reform Programme

At the Spring European Council in March 2005, Heads of Government re-launched the Lisbon Strategy with a new focus on Growth and Jobs and a streamlined governance regime. The key Lisbon change was the agreement by Member States to publish National Reform Programmes (NRPs), explaining how domestic structural reform would contribute to increased growth and employment across the EU as a whole. Each Member State submitted an NRP for the first time in the autumn 2005, covering reform priorities for the three-year cycle from 2005 to 2008. NRPs are reported on annually, and progress is reviewed both by Member States themselves and by the Commission.

The Government published the UK's NRP 2005-2008 entitled "Lisbon Strategy for Jobs and Growth: UK National Reform Programme" on 13 October 2005. This is a strategic document which sets out the way in which we plan to deliver economic reform in the UK over the period 2005-8.

In parallel with the NRPs, the European Commission publishes the Community Lisbon Programme (the NRP’s EU-Level counterpart), outlining economic reform measures to be taken at an EU level, and offering guidance to Member States on the issues to be addressed by their NRPs.

In January 2006, the EU Commission published an assessment of the NRPs in its Lisbon Annual Progress Report (APR) “Time to Move up a Gear – the new partnership for Growth and Jobs” (to view this, see commission’s website in related links section on the right).

NRP Update on Progress

Member States are required, to submit annual reports on their NRPs each October, outlining progress over the previous 12 months in implementing the commitments in the original NRPs.

In October 2006, member States, including the UK, submitted their first Annual Progress Reports which focused on the implementation of the policies developed in their original NRPs. These Progress Reports described the implementation of existing commitments and mentioned relevant policies announced since October 2005. The UK NRP update does not contain new policy announcements but follows the same format as the original UK NRP; with chapters on macroeconomic stability, microeconomic affairs (productivity) and employment.

The Commission also proposed country-specific recommendations as part of the assessment of Member States' reforms, which were approved by Heads of Government at the 2007 Spring European Council in March this year.  For more information, see the EU Commission's web pages on "Growth and Jobs"(see related links section on right).

Stakeholder dialogue

There have been cross-Whitehall efforts to engage with the Commission and with UK stakeholders on the preparation of this year's NRP update.

The Government hosted a stakeholder seminar on 14th May to discuss the contribution of stakeholders to delivering the Lisbon Strategy and their views on how to share that experience more widely in the EU.

On 20th June 2007 the Commission paid a senior official level "Technical Visit" to the UK, and like last year’s visit (29 June), they met stakeholders to discuss consultation on the NRP and progress towards implementing the commitments within it.
We are now conducting a web-based survey; inviting stakeholders to comment on the contribution they are making towards the delivery of the Lisbon strategy and its employment and economic objectives. In particular, we are keen to learn about concrete examples of good practice in the areas that are priorities for reform in the UK. These include:

• increasing employment opportunities for the most disadvantaged;
• improving the business environment;
• knowledge and innovation;
• an energy policy for Europe.

Please click on link below to complete survey:

UK NRP DTI Survey June 2007 

The opportunity to comment will close on 20th July.

Copies of the UK Government's National Reform Programme (NRP) 2005 and UK Government's subsequent NRP Update of October 2006, can be accessed via the related documents section of this page.

Contact:

Ohita Bare-Ibiayo
Tel: 020 7215 6454
Fax: 020 7215 2234
Email:Ohita.Bare-Ibiayo@dti.gsi.gov.uk