EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission today published a very downbeat assessment on its highly ambitious goal to become "the most competitive, knowledge-based economy in the World by 2010" - the so-called Lisbon strategy.

The report concedes, "the Union cannot catch up on the United States as our per capita GDP is 72 percent of our American partner's".

Romano Prodi confirmed that the EU would miss its targets for the half-way stage of the process (which runs from 2000 to 2010) and said, "This should be a strong enough message to serve as a wake-up call to governments".

"the European Union's efforts to catch up with the United States are at a standstill".

Jonathon Evans, leader of the UK Conservatives in the European Parliament said, "Instead of making progress on the Lisbon targets, the EU is actively heading
in the opposite direction".

IMO. Is there a correlation between success in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus to the world and having the technology wear-with-all to do it?

EU downbeat on its goal of trying to catch US

Is there a correlation between success in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus to the world and having the technology wear-with-all to do it?

I think that�s a great question, wopik. My short answer would be that when we (and governments) over-focus on the material, to the expense of other valuable and real non-material aspects of our lives, then those governments waste energy chasing dead ends, lose site or ignore fundamental concerns and realities, and/or become far more slothful than governments usually are. This could also just be a case of governments taking too much upon themselves and thus stifling the spirit and energy of the private sector. For every dollar that government spends it�s a dollar that some individual could have spent and probably would have spent better.