BRUSSELS -- A report commissioned by the European Union said Thursday member countries are dismally behind in achieving economic reforms pledged four years ago.
Former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok was the author of the study, which recommended an annual report card on which countries were failing to do enough to rejuvenate their economies
In 2000, national leaders set the goal of the EU outpacing the U.S. economy within 10 years.
But Kok's report said the EU economy had "lost ground" to the United States and Asia in recent years.
"There are differences from country to country, but on the whole, even if every target could be met by 2010, it would be highly improbable to expect that we would be the strongest economy in the world," Kok's report said.
He also pointed out the EU's economic growth is projected to be 2 percent in 2004 and 2.4 percent in 2005 -- roughly half the global growth rates for those two years.
