| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2014) 150 final (05.03.14) |
| Publication Date | 05/03/2014 |
| Content Type | Policy-making, Report |
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This Communication summarises the results of the in-depth reviews (IDRs) to assess whether imbalances and excessive imbalances exist in a number of EU Member States. It also elaborates on the euro area dimension of macroeconomic imbalances and how several policy challenges have to be addressed in a euro area-wide context. In addition, to contribute to integrated surveillance, the Communication also discusses fiscal developments: for the countries concerned, the Commission updates its assessment of November 2013 when it discussed the Draft Budgetary Plans. The IDRs discuss relevant features of the Member States' economies, in particular the evolution of their external accounts, savings and investment balances, effective exchange rates, export market shares, cost- and non-cost competitiveness, productivity, private and public debt, housing prices, credit flows, financial systems, unemployment and other variables. The assessment of imbalance or excessive imbalances considers the situation of each economy at a given moment, the dynamics in each of those issues, as well as, when appropriate, the recent policy actions. The IDRs illustrate that the challenges that the EU economies face have been changing. When the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP) was created, and during the previous rounds of its implementation, the main challenges were related to the unsustainable current account deficits, losses in competitiveness related to previously very dynamic labour costs, private debts and high housing prices. The main challenges of a cross-country nature now also concern the impact that deleveraging in many countries has on medium-term growth; the sustainability of private and public debts and of the external liabilities in a context of very low inflation; the need to ensure an adequate flow of credit to viable activities – particularly in the non-tradables sector – in the vulnerable economies under a fragmented financial system; and the very high level of unemployment in many economies. |
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| Source Link | http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2014:150:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Economic and Financial Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
