Matthias Lfkens, Associate Director, Media, Tel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212; E-mail: matthias.luefkens@weforum.

org

EMBARGOED UNTIL SUNDAY 9 MAY, 09.00 CET

The European Union failed to meet its goal to become the most
competitive region in the world
Nordic countries continue to lead the way on EU competition benchmark, the Lisbon Goals
Several 2004 accession countries are ranked ahead of many longer-standing EU Members
The embargoed report and rankings can be accessed at:
http://www.scribd.com/full/30852400?access_key=key-rnqnuy9k28nhdfrd8ke
The results will be central to discussions at the World Economic Forum on Europe, Brussels, Belgium, on 10-11
May 2010

Brussels, Belgium, 9 May 2010 Sweden remains the most
competitive economy as measured by the European Unions (EU)
own competition benchmark, the Lisbon criteria, followed by
Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands, according to the World
Economic Forums Lisbon Review 2010 released today ahead of
the upcoming World Economic Forum on Europe.

Economy Rank 2010 Score Rank 2008 2008-2010
Sweden 1 5.83 1
Finland 2 5.72 3
Denmark 3 5.61 2
Netherlands 4 5.51 4
Luxembourg 5 5.43 7
Germany 6 5.39 6
Austria 7 5.39 5
France 8 5.22 8
United Kingdom 9 5.15 9
Belgium 10 5.15 10
Ireland 11 5.00 11
Estonia 12 4.96 12
Cyprus 13 4.83 13
Slovenia 14 4.79 15
Czech Republic 15 4.71 16
Portugal 16 4.70 14
Malta 17 4.58 18
Spain 18 4.53 17
Slovak Republic 19 4.45 20
Lithuania 20 4.39 19
Hungary 21 4.28 22
Latvia 22 4.21 21
Greece 23 4.18 23
Poland 24 4.07 26
Italy 25 4.03 24
Romania 26 3.96 25
Bulgaria 27 3.77 27
EU 27 average 4.81
United States 5.27
East Asia 5.28
Rankings and Scores of EU Countries 2010 and 2008
The World Economic Forums study is the fifth and final review in a
biennial series that assesses the progress made by EU Member
countries in the far-reaching goals of the EUs Lisbon Strategy of
economic and structural reforms. In addition to assessing the
performance of 27 existing EU Members, it
also measures the competitive performance
of EU candidates and potential candidate
countries.

Click on the picture to watch a four-minute
interview with the author of the report,
Jennifer Blanke, Senior Economist at the
World Economic Forum.

In 2000, the EU set for itself an ambitious
action and development plan with the Lisbon
Agenda. As this Review indicates, while
some progress has been made, much
remains to be achieved in order to fully
harness Europes economic potential. As
Europe and the world emerge from the most
significant economic crisis in a half-century,
accelerating the reform process articulated
through efforts such as the new Europe 2020
Strategy will be critical for ensuring that the
region gets back to growth, said Klaus
Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of
the World Economic Forum.

The Nordic countries are the strongest
European performers in the area of
innovation, attributable to their companies
aggressiveness in adopting new technologies
and their level of spending on R&D, and the
high degree of collaboration between
universities and the private sector in
research. Indeed, in terms of innovation
output, they register among the highest rates of patenting per capita internationally.

The Nordic countries have also achieved a high level of social inclusion, with low unemployment (especially in
Denmark, pioneer of the flexicurity system) and strong participation of women in the workforce (especially in
Finland and Sweden). These countries also have developed highly-skilled workforces through top-notch educational
systems and strong on-the-job training programmes.

Among the other countries in the top 10, performance is more mixed, with some notable strength in specific areas.
For example, the Netherlands is ranked 2nd both for its information society and for the extent of liberalization.
Germany and France have particularly strong network industries (ranked 1st and 3rd, respectively).

The assessment of the United Kingdoms financial services has continued to worsen, a trend seen over the past few
years, falling from 1st in this dimension in The Lisbon Review 2006 to 11th in 2008, and finally to 14th in the present
assessment, no doubt related to weaknesses revealed and exacerbated by the recent financial crisis.

According to the study, several 2004 accession countries are ranked ahead of many longer-standing EU Members,
including Estonia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic. This implies that a number of these more recent Members are
closer to meeting the Lisbon Goals than many of the longer-standing Members.

Among potential future Members, Croatia and Montenegro outperform the four lowest-ranked EU Members
Poland, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria and Turkey and Macedonia outperform Bulgaria.

The eight dimensions measured by The Lisbon Review 2010 are:
1) Creating an information society for all
2) Developing a European area for innovation and R&D
3) Liberalization (completing the Single Market; state aid and competition policy)
4) Building network industries
5) Creating efficient and integrated financial services
6) Improving the enterprise environment
7) Increasing social inclusion
8) Enhancing sustainable development

The assessment is based on publicly available statistics (e.g. Internet penetration rates, unemployment rates) and
data from the World Economic Forums Executive Opinion Survey (EOS), an annual survey of business leaders that
is carried out in over 130 countries, providing data for a variety of qualitative issues for which hard data does not
exist (e.g. the quality of the educational system, the governments prioritization of information and communications
technologies).

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in
partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is
tied to no political, partisan or national interests (http://www.weforum.org).