A problem with reality

Before the Lisbon treaty, there was another "Lisbon" close to the heart of the Euros – none other than the "Lisbon Agenda" – that miracle policy set up in the year 2000 which was going to turn the European economy into the world’s most dynamic and competitive knowledge economy by 2010.

Even in the very early days of this blog, we we saying that this was moonshine, frequently pointing out the risible nature of this hubristic ambition.

Now, years later, we get a report from the French government telling us that the grand scheme "was without doubt never a realistic objective". The funny thing is, not only could we have told them that for free, we actually did, many times. Yet, not only did these idiots set it up, most of them actually believed their own propaganda.

Having now admitted failure, however, the French government is redefining the goal, setting the EU's sights somewhat lower, the target being simply to "stay in the race for prosperity and international influence in a world destined to domination by an American-Asian duopoly".

So, from a millennium that was supposed to be dominated by Europe, the mighty Europeans (or, at least, the French) recognise that it would be an achievement just to stay in the race. Reality is a wonderful thing – and how typical it is that the EU finds such difficulty in recognising it.

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