EU economic and employment policies to become ‘more coherent and effective’, September 2002

The European Commission has announced a number of changes intended to streamline the coordination of the Union's economic and employment policies. According to the announcement on 3 September, the Commission will focus more on medium- and long-term policy coordination and on ensuring implementation and results.

As with so many other initiatives, the changes are driven in part by the aim - expressed by EU leaders at the March 2000 Lisbon European Council - of making the EU the world's 'most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy' by 2010. They are also a response to a request by the March 2002 Barcelona European Council that discussions about the Union's Broad Economic Policy Guidelines and annual Employment Package should be synchronised, as the timings of the current annual cycles is believed to make coordination more complex than it need be. The changes will be implemented immediately, in preparation for next year's Spring European Council.

There are two main elements in the new system: better coordination of the policy cycles and greater effectiveness.

Better coordination is to be achieved primarily by streamlining the presentation and discussion of reports, which will now be done primarily in January and April.

The January 'Implementation Package' will include the Commission's evaluation reports on the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs), the European Employment Strategy (EES) and the Internal Market Strategy (IMS). Also in January, the Commission will present its Spring Report prepared for the annual Spring European Council on economic and social affairs.

In April each year, after the Spring European Council has provided the general political framework, the Commission will present a 'Guidelines Package' in which it will define and present its proposals for further action in the areas covered by the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, the Employment Guidelines (EGs) and the Employment Recommendations.

Decisions on the proposals will then be taken at the June European Council, following discussions by the European Parliament and by relevant national Ministers meeting as the Council of the EU, who will adopt the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, the Employment Guidelines and the Employment Recommendations.

Greater effectiveness of EU policy co-ordination is to be achieved through two main changes:
introducing a greater focus on medium-term economic and employment policies, with the intention of providing stability and enabling more effective assessment of their impact. The various elements of the 'Guidelines Package' will therefore be given a greater medium-term perspective, even though they will continue to be presented annually.

In a joint statement, Commissioners Pedro Solbes and Anna Diamantopoulou said the changes 'will strengthen the medium-term focus of policy making and give greater prominence to the effective implementation of policies and thus to concrete results for Europe's citizens in terms of jobs and prosperity. Increased transparency, better policy coherence and a stronger commitment of all stakeholders will facilitate progress towards reaching the EU's ambitious economic objectives agreed in Lisbon.'

Links:

European Commission:
	03.09.02:	Commission streamlines EU economic and employment policy coordination [IP/02/1261]
	03.09.02:	Communication from the Commission on streamlining the annual economic and employment policy co-ordination cycles

Eric Davies
KnowEurope Researcher
Compiled: Tuesday, 10 September 2002

The European Commission has announced a number of changes intended to streamline the coordination of the Union's economic and employment policies. According to the announcement on 3 September 2002, the Commission will focus more on medium- and long-term policy coordination and on ensuring implementation and results.