European Commission policy-makers believe EU leaders are finally seeing things with clearer eyes. The financial crisis and its after-effects, China’s growing economic and political assertiveness, and globalization, have finally brought home to member states the power dynamics of a globalised world.

Slowly waking up to this fact throughout last year, the point was rammed home at the Copenhagen climate summit in December where the EU – brimming with good intentions -  was clearly not a player.

This is good news, say those drawing up the successor to the 2000-2010 Lisbon Strategy – a catalogue of (largely ignored)  targets to improve education, innovation and research in a bid to catch up with the US.  It means that member states may now consider deeper economic cooperation, something they rejected out hand when the issue was last seriously discussed in 2004.

The commission is planning to make sure that the new ten year strategy – Europe 2020 – stays on EU leaders’ political radars. Overseeing the Lisbon Strategy was carried out by those lower down the political foodchain, seen as a major contribution to its failure.

EU policy makers say they do not envision sanctions in the new strategy – as had been suggested by EU presidency Spain – and note, for concerned German ears, that greater economic governance does not mean having political control over the European Central Bank.

But the commission, which plans to have a formal proposal by the March EU council following discussion with member states on 11 February, says this decade’s strategy should have some bite.

By using the “letter and the spirit” of the Lisbon Treaty (Art. 120-122) , in force since 1 December, the EU will be able to pull up member states for poor performance.  Article 121.4 allows the commission to issue warnings and policy recommendations to member states that fall behind on the economic targets. “Some of these parts we are going to use very soon,” said a senior policy-maker, referring to the three articles.

The belief is that a more economically powerful bloc is needed to better negotiate with new powers China, India and Brazil – including on climate change targets. It is not enough to go to such summits armed only with optimism when the EU has insufficient economic and political leverage, say clear-eyed officials. Finally.

Meanwhile, the Lisbon Treaty may also provide answers in the Greek case, should the troubled country default on its debts. While EU law does not allow bail-outs, Article 122.2 says that

“Where a Member State is in difficulties or is seriously threatened with severe difficulties caused by natural disasters or exceptional occurrences beyond its control, the council, on a proposal from the commission, may grant, under certain conditions, union financial assistance to the member state concerned.“

Should it ever come to a default, the financial crisis should qualify as an “exceptional occurrence,” leading EU sources to say that solving Greece’s fiscal problems is within the Union’s capacity.