"Romano Prodi, the outgoing European Commission president, has labelled Europe's efforts to overtake the US as the world's most competitive economy "a big failure".

His comments came as Wim Kok, the former Dutch prime minister, prepared to deliver a scathing report on Europe's economic reforms, in which he will criticise a lack of commitment and political will and warn they risk becoming "a synonym for missed objectives and failed promises".

Mr Kok's report, seen by the Financial Times, warns that Europe has fallen further behind the US since launching its ambitious target to raise Europe's growth potential at Lisbon in 2000.