Janos Gacs, Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences , Budapest, Hungary
The Lisbon Strategy as a Long Term Plan - The Role of Blueprint, Institutions and Coordination (assigned to theme
The Lisbon Process, with all its puzzling characteristics, can be compared to a long term national plan, where the subordinating units have a say in the elaboration of the plan, the plan targets are not broken down, and the units have substantial independence in the implementation. The paper, while developing this comparison in detail, analyses the birth and development of the Lisbon Process. The question whether the unsatisfactory implementation of the plan has been due to an unsound blueprint, ill-conceived institutions, or too soft coordination, is raised, and answers are formulated. For the characterization and evaluation of the coordination mechanisms of the Lisbon Strategy the experience of Hungary’s so-called “modified central planning” in the period 1968-1990 are recalled. It is showed that the five different forms of coordination used in that system (with mixed results) display startling similarities to those used in the Lisbon Process.
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