The European Commission has called for action to promote growth and employment. According to Commission president Mr Romano Prodi, writing in today's Irish Times, Europe cannot afford to be complacent.

"Present economic strength must not be wasted to the benefit of our competitors but should be used to speed up much-needed reform. Growth gives us an opportunity to act and we must seize the moment."

He pointed to a lack of political will which meant:

no agreement on an EU-wide patent;

insufficient liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets;

stubbornly high unemployment;

and slow take-up of the new e-economy. "The European Commission will be urging participants at the Stockholm summit to do all in their power to close the gap between rhetoric and reality: to deliver on past agreements, and live up to some new challenges."

The Commission today presents member-states with 10 priorities for the coming year. These include the need to promote frontier technologies, create European labour markets and integrate financial markets. At the upcoming summit, the Commission will present proposals to boost Europe's research effort through greater co-ordination, mobility, and benchmarking.

"We will push for the legal protection necessary to spur enterprise in new fields like biotechnology and propose changes to free up venture capital to fund research."

It will also present proposals to make Europe-wide recognition of professional qualifications more automatic and pensions more portable.

The Commission also plans to present a co-ordinated strategy to simplify the regulatory environment in Europe. There will be proposals too, to free up rail freight and passenger markets, and to make air travel more efficient.

"It is my ambition to make Europe the easiest place in the world to do business," Mr Prodi said.