BRIEFING ON EUROPE 2020 & THE EUROPEAN SEMESTER · The European Semester is the term used for the...
Transcript of BRIEFING ON EUROPE 2020 & THE EUROPEAN SEMESTER · The European Semester is the term used for the...
BETTER EUROPE ALLIANCE
SEPTEMBER 2014
BRIEFING ON EUROPE 2020 & THE EUROPEAN SEMESTER
IRISH CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS FOR A SOCIAL AND SUSTAINABLE EUROPE
The European Semester is the term used for the coordi-nated annual monitoring by the European Commission of two separate processes:
- Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth1 - The Stability and Growth Pact2
The Europe 2020 strategy covers the period 2010-2020 and contains economic, social and environmental com-mitments. The Stability and Growth Pact came into force in 1998 and contains binding commitments on how EU Governments manage their deficits and debt. It was integrated into the European Semester process and has taken on a stronger role in the last number of years due to the economic crisis.
WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN
SEMESTER?
EUROPEAN SEMESTER
EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY
STABILITY & GROWTH PACT
The Europe 2020 Strategy is the main way in which EU member states, including Ireland, coordinate policies on the economy, society and environment. This includes specific commitments on poverty and social exclusion, education, employment and climate change. In Ireland, we are particularly aware of the importance of the Stability and Growth Pact and the associated processes which have a direct effect on our Governments budget plans.
The European Semester process provides a way of following all of these policies and of debating them ‘in the round’ with Government. It allows us to learn from counterparts and other countries across Europe. Europe 2020 objectives are also linked to the priorities for EU funding for 2014-2020, including the Structural Funds.
In the view of the members of the Alliance, what is supposed to be a balanced process has been undermined
by the priority given to negative economic policies, dominated by austerity, to the detriment of policies needed for a just and sustainable future. This needs to be countered by pressure for a stronger commitment to the social, equality, and environmental goals.
We must insist that the clear commitments to structured dialogue with stakeholders, including civil society as key partners, are delivered on, to strengthen the democracy and legitimacy of the process.
We need to fill the gaps in the commitments. For example, gender equality is not an explicit objective in Europe 2020 despite the fact that the Lisbon Treaty enshrines the objective to achieve gender equality and gender mainstreaming across all policies.
This brief explains the Semester with the aim of supporting a wider engagement.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
FOR IRISH CIVIL SOCIETY TO INFLUENCE
THE EUROPEAN SEMESTER?
The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is the framework for coordinating national fiscal policies in the EU. Fiscal policy is a Government’s spending and tax policies which are used to influence the county’s economy. The Growth and Stability Pact was established to safeguard sound public finances, based on the principle that economic policies are a matter of shared concern for all Member States. The Stability and Growth Pact contains two arms – the preventive arm and the corrective arm. The preventive arm tries to ensure that fiscal policy is sustainable over the year. The corrective arm sets out how countries take corrective action in the case of an over-spend or excessive deficit.
Objectives:
The general government deficit must not exceed 3% of GDP; and
Public debt must not exceed 60% of GDP or must move towards the 60% target.
These targets are included in the European Union treaties and strengthened through an intergovernmental agreement in the Fiscal Treaty which Ireland voted in favour of in a referendum on the 31st May 2012. More detailed rules were agreed by EU Member States in what are known as the ‘six-pack’ in 2011 and the ‘two-pack’ in 2013.3
STABILITY & GROWTH PACT
21
Included in the ‘six-pack’ are the financial penalties countries could face for failing to take proper action while the ‘two-pack’ reinforced the preventive arm by requiring Euro area Member States to submit their draft annual budgets to the European Commission for approval by the 15th October.
Countries failing to meet the two objectives enter into the corrective arm of the SGP called Excessive Deficit Procedure. This allows the European Commission to enforce the deficit or debt levels to be corrected. If a country does not comply, this can result in sanctions for Eurozone countries, or possible suspension of Structural Funds for all EU Member States.
Macro-economic Imbalance Procedure: This operates alongside the Stability and Growth Pact. It is an early warning system with a Scoreboard containing a range of indicators. The indicators are mainly economic but in 2013 the Commission integrated social indicators including long-term unemployment; poverty and social exclusion; young people not in employment, education or training and inequality. It still remains to be seen what impact the inclusion of social indicators will have. The scoreboard is published in the Alert Mechanism Report in November each year.
In June 2010 the Europe 2020 Strategy replaced the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs (also known as Lisbon Agenda 2000-2010). The Europe 2020 Strategy aims to be a key means of progressing an integrated approach to economic, employment, environmental and social goals of the EU. It contains five targets with each EU Member State adopting their own national targets to support the achievement of the EU targets (Table 1).
As part of the European 2020 process, all EU Member States must submit their National Reform Programmes, outlining progress towards the five targets to the European Commission in April each year.
THE EUROPE2020 STRATEGY
Note:- The Europe 2020 targets are currently implemented through a ‘soft law’ coordination process by the EU and Member States.
- The Stability and Growth Pact targets are legally enforceable with penalties for failing to do so.
TABL
E 1:
EURO
PE 20
20 A
ND
IRIS
H TA
RGET
S AN
D PR
OGRE
SS TO
WARD
S TH
EM(P
ROGR
ESS
RELA
TES
TO
2012
OR
2013
WHE
RE S
TATE
D)
EMPL
OYME
NTCL
IMAT
E CHA
NGE
RESE
ARCH
& D
EVEL
OPME
NTED
UCAT
ION
POVE
RTY &
SOC
IAL E
XCLU
SION
Rai
se t
o 75
% t
he e
mpl
oym
ent
rate
of
wom
en a
nd m
en a
ged
20-6
4, i
nclu
ding
th
e gr
eate
r pa
rtic
ipat
ion
of
youn
g pe
ople
, ol
der
wor
kers
and
low
-ski
lled
wor
kers
and
bet
ter
inte
grat
ion
of l
egal
m
igra
nts.
Pro
mot
ing
soci
al in
clus
ion,
in p
artic
ular
th
roug
h th
e re
duct
ion
of
pove
rty,
by
aim
ing
to li
ft a
t lea
st 2
0 m
illio
n pe
ople
ou
t of
ri
sk
of
pove
rty
and
excl
usio
n by
202
0.
To
redu
ce
the
num
ber
expe
rien
cing
co
nsis
tent
pov
erty
to 4
% b
y 20
16 (i
nter
im
targ
et)
and
to 2
% o
r le
ss b
y 20
20,
from
th
e 20
10 b
asel
ine
rate
of
6.3%
, w
hich
w
ill li
ft a
t lea
st 2
00,0
00 p
eopl
e ou
t of t
he
risk
of
pov
erty
and
exc
lusi
on b
etw
een
2012
and
202
0.
Impr
ovin
g ed
ucat
ion
leve
ls, i
n pa
rtic
ular
by
Spen
ding
3%
of
GD
P o
n re
sear
ch a
nd
deve
lopm
ent.
Red
ucin
g gr
eenh
ouse
gas
em
issi
ons
by 2
0% b
y 20
20 (f
rom
199
0),
incr
easi
ng t
he s
hare
of
rene
wab
les
in e
nerg
y co
nsum
ptio
n by
20%
(fr
om
2005
) and
Mov
ing
tow
ards
a 2
0% i
ncre
ase
in
ener
gy e
ffici
ency
(fro
m 2
005)
.
aim
ing
to
redu
ce
scho
ol
drop
-ou
t ra
tes
to
less
th
an
10%
an
d by
in
crea
sing
th
e sh
are
of
30-3
4 ye
ars
old
havi
ng c
ompl
eted
ter
tiary
or
equi
vale
nt e
duca
tion
to a
t lea
st 4
0%.
Red
uce
gree
nhou
se g
as e
mis
sion
s in
th
e no
n-tr
aded
se
ctor
by
20
%
com
pare
d to
200
5 le
vels
; in
crea
se
the
shar
e of
re
new
able
s in
fina
l en
ergy
con
sum
ptio
n to
16%
by
202
0 (f
rom
5.2
% in
200
5);
to m
ove
tow
ards
a 2
0% i
ncre
ase
in
ener
gy e
ffici
ency
.
To
redu
ce
the
perc
enta
ge
of
18-
24
year
ol
ds
with
at
m
ost
low
er
seco
ndar
y ed
ucat
ion
and
not
in
furt
her
educ
atio
n an
d tr
aini
ng to
8%
; to
inc
reas
e th
e sh
are
of 3
0-34
yea
r ol
ds w
ho h
ave
com
plet
ed t
ertia
ry o
r eq
uiva
lent
edu
catio
n to
at l
east
60%
.
i. ii. iii.
i. ii.
i. ii. iii.
i. ii.
i. ii. iii.
i. ii.
i. ii. iii.
i. ii.
To
rais
e to
69
-71%
th
e em
ploy
men
t ra
te
for
wom
en
and
men
ag
ed
20-
64,
incl
udin
g th
roug
h th
e gr
eate
r pa
rtic
ipat
ion
of
youn
g pe
ople
, ol
der
wor
kers
and
low
-ski
lled
wor
kers
, an
d th
e be
tter
inte
grat
ion
of le
gal
mig
rant
s,
and
to r
evie
w th
e ta
rget
leve
l of a
mbi
tion
in 2
014,
in th
e co
ntex
t of a
pro
pose
d m
id-
term
rev
iew
of t
he E
urop
e 20
20 S
trat
egy.
Impr
ovin
g th
e co
nditi
ons
for
rese
arch
an
d de
velo
pmen
t, in
pa
rtic
ular
w
ith
the
aim
of
ra
isin
g co
mbi
ned
publ
ic
and
priv
ate
inve
stm
ent
leve
ls i
n th
is
sect
or t
o 2.
5% o
f G
NP
(ap
prox
imat
ely
equi
vale
nt to
2.0
% o
f GD
P).
68.3%
(E
U 2
8 in
201
3)2.0
7%
2.13%
(1
.72%
of G
DP
from
1.6
9% in
201
0)
65.5%
(in
201
3 fr
om 6
4.6
in 2
010)
EU T
arge
tEU
Tar
get
Iris
h Ta
rget
EU T
arge
tEU
Tar
get
EU T
arge
t
Iris
h Ta
rget
Iris
h Ta
rget
Iris
h Ta
rget
Iris
h Ta
rget
Pro
gres
sP
rogr
ess
Pro
gres
sP
rogr
ess
Pro
gres
s
Pro
gres
s
Pro
gres
sP
rogr
ess
Pro
gres
sP
rogr
ess
17.8
6%
14.1
%12
.1%
Num
ber
of p
eopl
e in
Con
sist
ent p
over
ty
incr
ease
d by
10
mill
ion
peop
le.
Num
ber
of p
eopl
e in
Con
sist
ent p
over
ty
incr
ease
d to
7.7
%
(incr
ease
of 6
6,00
0 pe
ople
)
12%
(in
2013
from
14.
2% in
200
9)36
.9%
(in
2013
from
32.
3% in
200
9)
12%
7.2%
15.2
%
8.4%
(in
2013
from
11.
7% in
200
9)52
.6%
(in
2013
from
48.
9% in
200
9)
TABL
E 2:
THE A
NNUA
LEU
ROPE
AN S
EMES
TER
TIMET
ABLE
NOVE
MBER
MAY/
JUNE
APRI
L
This
Com
mis
sion
docu
men
t set
s out
the b
road
EU
econ
omic
prio
ritie
s fo
r th
e ye
ar a
nd fo
r Eu
rope
202
0. T
hese
are
to b
e ta
ken
into
acc
ount
in
eac
h EU
cou
ntry
whe
n th
ey a
re p
repa
ring
thei
r na
tiona
l rep
orts
.
It is
acc
ompa
nied
by
a St
aff W
orki
ng D
ocum
ent.
This
out
lines
how
ea
ch c
ount
ry h
as b
een
impl
emen
ting
the
Cou
ntry
Spe
cific
Rec
om-
men
datio
ns (s
ee b
elow
) fro
m th
e ye
ar b
efor
e an
d by
the
draf
t Joi
nt
Empl
oym
ent
Rep
ort
whi
ch a
sses
ses
the
soci
al a
nd e
mpl
oym
ent
situ
atio
n in
the
EU.
This
is p
art
of t
he M
acro
-eco
nom
ic Im
bala
nces
Pro
cedu
re a
nd is
pu
blis
hed
by
the
Com
mis
sion
in N
ovem
ber
each
yea
r w
ith th
e A
n-nu
al G
row
th S
urve
y. W
hen
diffi
cult
ies
are
high
light
ed th
roug
h th
is
repo
rt, i
t tri
gger
s a
resp
onse
from
the
Com
mis
sion
and
is in
clud
ed
in th
e C
ount
ry S
peci
fic R
ecom
men
datio
ns
Dra
ft C
ount
ry S
peci
fic R
ecom
men
datio
ns a
re m
ade
by th
e Eu
rope
-an
Com
mis
sion
to a
ll EU
cou
ntri
es. T
hey
are
base
d on
an
asse
ss-
men
t of e
ach
coun
try’
s ec
onom
ic a
nd s
ocia
l per
form
ance
incl
udin
g a
deta
iled
anal
ysis
of t
heir
NR
Ps
and
Stab
ility
or
Con
verg
ence
Pro
-gr
amm
es a
nd h
ow fa
r th
ey a
re d
eliv
erin
g on
the
prio
ritie
s la
id o
ut
in t
he A
nnua
l G
row
th S
urve
y. T
he R
ecom
men
datio
ns c
an b
e ve
ry
spec
ific
and
cove
r a
broa
d ra
nge
of is
sues
. The
dra
ft R
ecom
men
-da
tion
are
deba
ted
befo
re a
fina
l ver
sion
is e
ndor
sed
by th
e H
eads
of
Sta
te o
f Gov
ernm
ents
(Eur
opea
n C
ounc
il) in
Jul
y co
nclu
ding
the
Euro
pean
Sem
este
r. Th
e R
ecom
men
datio
ns a
re t
hen
to b
e ta
ken
into
acc
ount
in t
he p
olic
ies
of e
ach
coun
try,
in p
artic
ular
in t
heir
an
nual
bud
gets
, and
the
ir im
plem
enta
tion
need
s to
be
deta
iled
in
the
follo
win
g ye
ar’s
Nat
iona
l Ref
orm
Pro
gram
me.
Nat
iona
l Ref
orm
Pro
gram
mes
(NR
Ps)
are
ann
ual r
epor
ts s
ubm
it-te
d by
eac
h EU
cou
ntry
to th
e Eu
rope
an C
omm
issi
on in
Apr
il ea
ch
year
. N
RP
s ou
tlin
e pr
ogre
ss to
war
ds th
e fiv
e Eu
rope
202
0 ta
rget
s,
how
the
Cou
ntry
Spe
cific
Rec
omm
enda
tions
are
bei
ng im
plem
ent-
ed a
nd a
lso
at t
he E
U l
evel
pri
oriti
es w
hich
wer
e in
the
Ann
ual
Gro
wth
Sur
vey.
Cou
ntri
es in
a T
roik
a pr
ogra
mm
e ar
e no
t re
quir
ed
to s
ubm
it a
full
NR
P b
ut in
stea
d an
upd
ate
lett
er. I
rela
nd e
xite
d its
Tr
oika
pro
gram
me
in l
ate
2013
and
now
hav
e to
sub
mit
an N
RP
, st
artin
g in
201
4.
Stab
ility
Pro
gram
mes
are
pre
pare
d by
EU
cou
ntri
es i
n th
e Eu
ro
area
and
Con
verg
ence
Pro
gram
mes
by
EU c
ount
ries
not
in
the
Euro
are
a. T
hey
are
subm
itted
to th
e C
omm
issi
on a
t the
sam
e tim
e as
the
NR
Ps.
The
aim
of t
he r
epor
ts is
to e
nabl
e th
e C
omm
issi
on
to a
sses
s if
the
coun
trie
s ar
e ke
epin
g to
the
budg
et r
ules
set
by
the
EU a
s pa
rt o
f the
Gro
wth
and
Sta
bilit
y P
act.
The
Ann
ual G
row
th S
urve
y
The
Ale
rt M
echa
nism
Rep
ort
Cou
ntry
Spe
cific
Rec
omm
enda
tion
sN
atio
nal R
efor
m P
rogr
amm
es
STAB
ILIT
Y AN
D G
RO
WTH
PA
CT
& M
ACR
OEC
ON
OM
IC
IMB
ALAN
CES
PR
OC
EDU
RE
(mac
roec
onom
ic &
fisc
al
surv
eilla
nce)
EUR
OP
E 20
20(t
hem
atic
sur
veill
ance
)
Annu
al G
row
th S
urve
y(E
urop
ean
Com
mis
sion
)
Cou
ntry
Spe
cific
R
ecom
men
datio
ns(E
urop
ean
Com
mis
sion
an
d Eu
rope
an C
ounc
il)
Aler
t Mec
hani
sm R
epor
t(E
urop
ean
Com
mis
sion
)
Euro
zone
bud
get
appr
aisa
l(E
urop
ean
Com
mis
sion
)
Stab
ility
/ C
onve
rgen
ce
Rep
ort
(Mem
ber
Stat
es)
Nat
iona
l Ref
orm
P
rogr
amm
es(M
embe
r St
ates
)
NO
VEM
BER
APR
IL
MAY
/JU
NE
MAY
/JU
NE
Stab
ility
or
Con
verg
ence
Pro
gram
me
Better Europe AllianceAge and Opportunity; Disability Federation of Ireland; Environmental Pillar; EAPN Ireland; Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed; National Adult Literacy Agency; National Association of Building Cooperatives; National Women’s Council of Ireland; SIPTU; Social Justice Ireland.
For further information contact: Paul Ginnell, EAPN Ireland, Equity House, 16 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin 7. Tel: 01-8745737; email: [email protected]
1. European Commission website: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/ europe-2020-in-a-nutshell/index_en.htm 2. European Commission website: http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/ economic_governance/sgp/index_en.htm 3. European Commission 2013. European Economic Governance Explained: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-318_en.htm
Environmental PillarWorking for sustainable development
The Alliance is supported by the European Commission
In conjunction with the EU level Semester Alliance