BRUSSELS (AFX) - EU finance ministers agreed a set of 12 structural indicators to be used in member states' intensifying efforts to reform and modernise their economies, officials said.
The set, selected from a list of 35, is intended to serve as a basis for council of ministers' discussions, to focus public debate and to provide a concise overview of states' performance, they said. It is part of the EU's move, started a year ago, to become the "most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world" within a decade.
The set highlights five aspects of the economy: the general economic background, employment, innovation and research, economic reform and social cohesion.
The 12 indicators are GDP per capita and real GDP growth rate; employment rate by gender, employment rate of older workers; R&D expenditure, level of internet access, ICT expenditures; prices in the network industries telecommunications and electricity, business investment, capital raised on stock markets; long term unemployment rate, variation in unemployment rates across regions, and early school leavers not in further education or training.