Transcript Europe 2020 and the European Economic Governance: What

Silvia Borelli
University of Ferrara
» 3 priorities - The Europe 2020 strategy is about delivering growth
that is: smart, through more effective investments in education,
research and innovation; sustainable, thanks to a decisive move
towards a low-carbon economy; and inclusive, with a strong
emphasis on job creation and poverty reduction.
» 5 targets
1. Employment : 75% of the 20-64 year-olds to be employed
2. R&D : 3% of the EU's GDP to be invested in R&D
3. Climate change and energy sustainability : greenhouse gas emissions
20% (or even 30%, if the conditions are right) lower than 1990; 20% of
energy from renewables ; 20% increase in energy efficiency
4. Education : Reducing the rates of early school leaving below 10%; at
least 40% of 30-34–year-olds completing third level education
5. Fighting poverty and social exclusion : at least 20 million fewer people
in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion
» 7 Flagship Initiatives
Digital agenda for Europe
Innovation Union
Youth on the move aims … to facilitate the entry of young people
into the labour market
Resource efficient Europe
An industrial policy for the globalisation era
An agenda for new skills and jobs aims to modernise labour
markets and empower people by developing their skills and
improving flexibility and security in the working environment; to
help workers seek employment across the EU more easily in order
to better match labour supply and demand.
European platform against poverty aims to ensure social and
territorial cohesion by helping the poor and socially excluded to
get access to the labour market and become active members of
society.
»
“Six-Pack"
Regulation (EU) No 1173/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16
November 2011 on the effective enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro
area
Regulation (EU) No 1174/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16
November 2011 on enforcement measures to correct excessive macroeconomic
imbalances in the euro area
Regulation (EU) No 1175/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16
November 2011 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening
of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of
economic policies
Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16
November 2011 on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances
Council Regulation (EU) No 1177/2011 of 8 November 2011 amending Regulation
(EC) No 1467/97 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive
deficit procedure
Council Directive 2011/85/EU of 8 November 2011 on requirements for budgetary
frameworks of the Member States
Six Pack
Entered into force on 13 December 2011.
It applies to 27 MS with some specific rules for euro-zone
Member States.
It strengthens the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP),
reinforcing both the preventive and the corrective arm of
the Pact, i.e. the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP).
It introduces reverse qualified majority voting (RQMV) for
most sanctions (RQMV implies that a recommendation or a
proposal of the Commission is considered adopted in the
Council unless a qualified majority of Member States votes
against it).
Reg. 1174 and 1176 set up the Macroeconomic Imbalance
Procedure
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/economic_governance
/macroeconomic_imbalance_procedure/index_en.htm
Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure:
» aims to identify imbalances in Member States’
economies much earlier than before.
» monitors national economies in detail and alerts the
EU institutions to potential problems ahead.
» uses a scoreboard that tracks changes in 11 economic
indicators, such as labour costs.
» Where imbalances are detected — for example, wage
rises that are not in line with productivity increases
— recommendations are made to the Member State
in question, and a clear roadmap with milestones to
‘rebalance’ the economy can be required.
» The Monti Clause
Art. 1 § 3 Reg. 1176/2011 - The application of this
Regulation shall fully observe Article 152 TFEU, and the
recommendations issued under this Regulation shall
respect national practices and institutions for wage
formation. This Regulation takes into account Article
28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the
European Union, and accordingly does not affect the
right to negotiate, conclude or enforce collective
agreements or to take collective action in accordance
with national law and practices.
» Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance
Entered into force on 1 January 2013.
Intergovernmental agreement (no involvement of European Parliament)
signed by 25 EU Member States (all but UK and Czech Republic).
TSCG is binding for all euro-zone Member States, while other contracting
parties will be bound once they adopt the euro or earlier if they wish.
It requires contracting parties to respect/ensure convergence towards the
country-specific medium-term objective (MTO), as defined in the SGP.
Correction mechanisms should ensure automatic action to be undertaken
in case of deviation from the MTO or the adjustment path towards it, with
escape clauses for exceptional circumstances.
These budget rules shall be implemented in national law through
provisions of "binding force and permanent character, preferably
constitutional“ (in Italy: L. Cost. 1/2012). European Court of Justice may
impose financial sanction (0.1% of GDP) if a country does not properly
implement the new budget rules in national law.
The State shall balance revenue and expenditure in
its budget, taking account of the adverse and
favourable phases of the economic cycle.
No recourse shall be made to borrowing except for
the purpose of taking account of the effects of the
economic cycle or, subject to authorisation by the
two Houses approved by an absolute majority vote of
their Members, in exceptional circumstances.
» “Two-Pack"
Regulation on common provisions for monitoring and assessing
draft budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive
deficit of the Member States in the euro area.
Regulation on the strengthening of economic and budgetary
surveillance of Member States experiencing or threatened with
serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability in the
euro area.
Applicable to euro-area Member States only.
Euro-area Member States shall submit their draft budgetary plan
for the following year to the Commission and the Eurogroup
before 15 October, along with the independent macro-economic
forecast on which they are based.
If the Commission assesses that the draft budgetary plan shows
serious non-compliance with the SGP, the Commission can require
a revised draft budgetary plan.
23 Member States, including six outside the euroarea (Bulgaria, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland
and Romania), signed the Euro Plus Pact in March
2011. The Pact commits signatories to stronger
economic coordination for competitiveness and
convergence, also in areas of national competence,
with concrete goals agreed on and reviewed on a
yearly basis by Heads of State or Government.
The 2012 Fiscal Sustainability Report analyses the sustainability
of public finances in the Member States, against the background
of the impact of the financial, economic and fiscal crisis and the
demographic ageing projected in the 2012 Ageing Report.
For further information:
http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/economic_governance/i
ndex_en.htm
TOWARDS A GENUINE ECONOMIC AND MONETARY UNION Van Rompuy (President of the European Council) in close
collaboration with: Barroso (President of the European
Commission); Juncker (President of the Eurogroup); Draghi
(President of the European Central Bank):
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/press
data/en/ec/134069.pdf
» The 2013 Annual Growth Survey (AGS),
together with the Joint Employment Report
and the Integrated Guidelines, provides the
basis for guidance by the European Council to
Member States on the comprehensive
strategies to be set out in National Reform
Programmes (NRPs) and Stability and
Convergence Programmes (SCPs).
» The Commission will present a joint social
protection and inclusion report in 2014 as part
of the 2014 AGS
» It starts the European Semester
» It should feed into national economic and budgetary decisions,
which Member States will set out in Stability and Convergence
Programmes (under the Stability and Growth Pact) and National
Reform Programmes (under the Europe 2020 strategy) in April.
These programmes will form the basis for the European
Commission's proposals for country-specific recommendations in
May.
» In 2012 and 2013, 5 priorities has been established :
I - Pursuing differentiated, growth-friendly fiscal consolidation
II - Restoring normal lending to the economy
III - Promoting growth and competitiveness for today and tomorrow
IV - Tackling unemployment and the social consequences of the crisis
V - Modernising public administration
The Commission recommends…
to continue modernising labour markets by simplifying
employment legislation and developing flexible working
arrangements, including short-time working
arrangements and work environments conducive to
longer working lives.
to monitor the effect of wage-setting systems, and if
necessary to amend them, in order to better reflect
productivity developments and support job creation.
» Communication: Towards a job-rich recovery
» Commission staff working document: Quality framework for traineeships (2012)
» Commission staff working document on exploiting the employment potential of
the personal and household services (2012)
» Commission staff working document: Reforming EURES to meet the goals of
Europe 2020 (2012)
» Commission staff working document: Implementing the Youth Opportunities
Initiative - First steps taken (2012)
» Commission staff working document on labour market trends and
challenges (2012)
» Commission staff working document: Open, dynamic and inclusive labour
markets (2012)
» Commission staff working document: Exploiting the employment potential of
ICTs (2012)
» Commission staff working document on an action plan for the EU healthcare
workforce (2012)
» Commission staff working document: Exploiting the employment potential of
green growth (2012)
» 3 main axes:
1. Supporting job creation: Focus more on demandside (Exploit job creation in 3 new sectors: green
economy, health & social services, ICT); Reduce tax
on labour (but also reduce employer social security
contributions); Tackle undeclared work; Modernise
wage-setting systems to align wages with
productivity developments.
2. Restoring dynamics of labour markets: Reform labour markets
by encouraging companies' internal flexibility, and reducing the
labour market segmentation between those in precarious
employment and those on more stable employment; Invest in
skills; Moving towards a European labour market.
3. Improving EU governance: Reinforcing coordination and
multilateral surveillance in employment policy by publishing a
benchmarking system with selected employment indicators
together with the draft Joint employment report and developing a
reform tracking device to keep track of progress
implementing national reform programmes; Effectively involving
the social partners in the European semester by setting up an EU
tripartite format for monitoring and exchanging views on wage
developments; strengthening the link between employment
policies and relevant financial instruments.
» Youth Employment Package includes:
A recommendation on introducing a Youth Guarantee in each
Member State to ensure that all young people up to age 25
receive a quality offer of a job, continued education, an
apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of leaving
formal education or becoming unemployed – adopted by the
Employment and Social Policy Council (EPSCO) in February 2013.
Second-stage consultation of EU social partners on a quality
framework for traineeships.
The announcement of a European Alliance for Apprenticeships
and ways to reduce obstacles to mobility for young people.
A Youth Employment Initiative proposed by the 7-8 February 2013
European Council with a budget of €6 billion for the period 201420.
Communication from the Commission: Towards Social Investment for Growth and Cohesion –
including implementing the European Social Fund 2014-2020 (2013)
Commission Recommendation: Investing in Children – breaking the cycle of disadvantage (2013)
Staff working document: Evidence on Demographic and Social Trends – Social Policies' Contribution
to Inclusion, Employment and the Economy (Part 1) (2013)
Staff working document: Evidence on Demographic and Social Trends – Social Policies' Contribution
to Inclusion, Employment and the Economy (Part 2) (2013)
Staff working document: Follow-up on the implementation by the Member States of the 2008
European Commission recommendation on active inclusion of people excluded from the labour
market -– Towards a social investment approach (2013)
Staff working document: 3rd Biennial Report on Social Services of General Interest (2013)
Staff working document: Long-term care in ageing societies – Challenges and policy options (2013)
Staff working document: Confronting Homelessness in the European Union (2013)
Staff working document: Investing in Health (2013)
Staff working document: Social investment through the European Social Fund (2013)
» It focuses on:
Ensuring that social protection systems respond to
people's needs at critical moments throughout their lives.
Simplified and better targeted social policies, to provide
adequate and sustainable social protection systems.
Upgrading active inclusion strategies in the Member
States. Affordable quality childcare and education,
prevention of early school leaving, training and job-search
assistance, housing support and accessible health care are
all policy areas with a strong social investment dimension.
Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and
Inclusion László Andor underlined: “Deepening
Economic and Monetary Union also means building up
its social dimension. Ensuring that workers' and
employers' representatives are fully involved and
participate in policy processes is key for ownership of
policy, and for good policy coordination. This is
particularly important for the social dimension of
genuine EMU".
Further information:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1044&langId=en&moreDo
cuments=yes
European Economic and Social Committee, Step up for a Stronger
Europe. 30 Proposals for stepping-up Europe 2020:
http://www.eesc.europa.eu/resources/docs/step-up-for-astrongereurope---30-conclusions---eesc.pdf
Caritas Europa Report, The Impact of European Crisis:
http://www.caritas-europa.org/code/EN/inte.asp?Page=1505
EuroMemoGroup, L’Europa alternativa:
http://www.sbilanciamoci.org/2013/03/euromemorandum-ci-salveraleuropa/