Europe 2020 is the strategy for Europe over the coming decade. The original proposal from the Commission is notable for several bad proposals (as many will probably agree - read and evaluate!). A final vote on the Europe 2020 agenda will take place in the parliament tomorrow, but the parliament is actually quite weak here. The Council in particular holds a lot of power over the direction of EU policies - that means national ministers. The parliamentary groups also do not agree on the necessary amendments to the agenda currently (this makes a surprising amount of sense if you consider that only 6 out of 27 Commissioners are from a non-conservative/liberal background, and that the vast majority of the Council is also from a conservative/liberal background AND that the parliament is almost half-conservative with a liberal group that's the largest of the small groups - the social democrats of the parliament, the green group and the red-green group are reluctant to approve of the lack of commitment to social cohesion, and bearing in mind that commitment to social justice and social integration of Europe was also lacking from the Lisbon Strategy this is perhaps justified. However, the liberals and the conservatives are also not entirely pleased with the strategy, but I refer at this point back to the relative power of the Council in determining the final outcome).

As far as I can determine, there are still at least five out of seven flagship initiatives where the Pirate Party should or could hold opinions. Three of them could not feasibly be left out of a Pirate Party strategy without us losing a lot of face (digital agenda, research and innovation).

If nothing else, a Pirate Europe 2020 agenda is something we should discuss to co-ordinate our European efforts at member state and European level. Of course, I generally feel that thinking about Europe is good for every citizen, especially considering the broadening of Union competences that took place on December 1st when the Lisbon treaty entered into force.