It is often argued that while ambitious and expensive social spending was in the past compatible with competitiveness, ongoing globalisation makes the reconciliation of EU social and economic goals more difficult. Lisbon addicted at the level of discourse, Europe is still performing unevenly, but on the whole rather poorly. The Hampton Court Summit in October 2005, hosted under the auspices of the EU British Presidency, was one of the first concerted attempts to address the issue of EU global coherence.