The thickest file on his desk concerns the Lisbon agenda, an ambitious programme approved in 2000 by the EU heads of state and government with the goal of making the Union "the most competitive and dynamic knowledge economy" by 2010. All major fields of economic policy are covered: innovation and entrepreneurship, welfare reform and social inclusion, skills and employability, gender equality, labour and product market liberalisation, and "sustainable" development.
巴罗佐办公桌上堆积如山的文案都与里斯本备忘录有关，2000年，欧盟国家和政府领导人批准了一项雄心勃勃的计划，2010年前把欧盟建成"最有竞争力和活力的知识经济"。计划涵盖了所有主要的经济政策领域：包括创新和企业精神、福利改革和社会包容、劳动技术和就业能力、性别平等、劳动力和产品市场开放以及"可持续"发展。