European semester
The European semester for the coordination of economic policies was introduced in 2011 as part of the Europe 2020 strategy. The European Semester was created on the proposal of the European Commission and enables it to review national budget and reform drafts at an early stage before they are adopted by the national parliaments. The main objective is to ensure national budget discipline and a more efficient economy.
procedure
The European semester consists of a fixed sequence. The annual growth report will be presented by the European Commission in January. This annually analyzes the economic situation of the entire EU as well as of the individual member states. In March, the European Council agreed on the most important measures. The member states have to submit their stability and convergence programs for their national budgets by April. These serve as the basis for the country-specific recommendations that will be drawn up and presented by the Commission for each individual Member State by June - they will be submitted to the ECOFIN Council and the European Council for decision. At the beginning of July, the European Council publishes the country-specific recommendations. Most Member States merely take note of these, but rarely implement them when they adopt their national budgets and policies. In 2014 the European Parliament found that the EU states had implemented less than 10 percent of the reforms recommended by the Commission. The annual growth report of the following year evaluates whether and to what extent the country-specific recommendations were taken into account by the member states.
Core elements
Since 2012, the European Semester has consisted of three fixed elements that are linked to one another:
- Country-specific recommendations
- Review of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure
- Proposals related to the excessive deficit procedure
1. Country-specific recommendations
The country-specific recommendations are drawn up by the European Commission. They are based on the evaluation of the implementation of the recommendations made in the previous year in each individual Member State. The recommendations are based on the analysis of the national reform programs and stability or convergence programs. The recommendations cover a variety of topics, including: a. public finances and structural renewals in the area of taxation as well as questions relevant to the labor market such as B. youth unemployment. The recommendations also contain the conclusions of the procedure in the event of an economic imbalance in the countries concerned.
2. Review of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure
A warning mechanism report determines which member states need further economic analysis. The aim of the macroeconomic imbalance procedure is to determine whether there are already macroeconomic imbalances or whether there is a risk that they will arise in the near future. In the procedure, the origin, type and extent of the (potential) macroeconomic imbalances are analyzed and an assessment is then made as to whether this imbalance exists in the country concerned. The procedure was introduced in 2012. The second round was completed in 2013. So far the procedure has been used in the following Member States: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden, Slovenia, Spain, Hungary, the United Kingdom and Cyprus.
3. Proposals related to the excessive deficit procedure
The Commission submits its proposals on the excessive deficit procedure to the Council.
See also
Web links
- The European Semester , on the European Commission's website
- Official press release of the ECOFIN Council on the decision on the European Semester (PDF; 170 kB)
- EU Commission presents the measures within the framework of the European Semester 2012
Individual evidence
- ^ Council of the European Union: A European semester - for a more efficient economy, [1]
- ↑ Werner Mussler: States don't give a damn about Brussels recommendations . The early warning system for false economic policies was introduced with great expectations. But the “European semester” doesn't work. The EU countries hardly care about the advice of the Commission. In: FAZ . June 18, 2014, p. 19 .
- ↑ EU Office of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research: Monitoring and indicators: European semester, archive link ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ European Commission - press release: EU Commission presents the next measures for more stability, growth and jobs, [2]
- ↑ European Commission - 2012 country-specific recommendations in the context of the European Semester: Frequently asked questions, [3]
- ↑ European Commission - Macroeconomic Imbalances: Commission completes in-depth reviews for 13 Member States, [4]
- ↑ European Parliament: Legal basis of the EU excessive deficit procedure ( PDF ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice . )
