The Lisbon Agenda: the end of the European model(s) of capitalism?

At the European Summit of Lisbon in 2000, the objective to make the European Union the most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010 was set. The problems met by Europe in the pursuit of the 2010 objective are commonly attributed to the existence of outdated institutions that would prevent the transition to a new era of capitalism: employment protection, competition regulations or even social protection. The diagnosis is that the European model cannot face these challenges if it is not ‘renewed'. The Lisbon Agenda established a series of structural reforms aiming at fostering growth and innovation. The paper will critically analyse this Agenda. On the basis of the theoretical framework and the empirical results proposed in Amable [2003], it will be argued that the Lisbon Agenda as such does not define a ‘coherent' model of capitalism; the Agenda has both accompanied and reinforced a pre-existing process of institutional change that is likely to lead European countries towards a type of capitalism that will be new to most of them. This process will take time and is very likely to meet substantial social and political opposition on the way. Although the aim of the Lisbon Agenda is to ‘renew' the European model of capitalism, the renewal process will alter many important institutional features and lead to an altogether different model.