Abstract. The global economy of the twenty-first century is characterised by rapid changes which create both threats and opportunities. The biggest challenge for the european economy is to become sufficiently flexible so as to avail of the opportunities and surmount the threats. This requires, above all, reforming labour market and social policies. In this paper we analyse the evolutions of the european economy in relation with Kondratieff cycles, aspects tied to the influences between the objectives of the EU agenda and those supposed by the real Kondratieff cycle, perceptible at the global economy level. Particulary, we are concerned about the chances of an european construction to consolidate specific values corresponding to the strategic options of Lisabona Agenda, as a possible compatibility with the essential lines of the current Kondratieff cycle. Analysing the european economy by submodels seemed to us relevant to define the previsible directions of the evolution.

Keywords: Kondratieff cycles; equity-efficiency trade-off; Kondratieff desynchronization; social submodels; Lisbon strategy.