Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. 2014 European Semester: country-specific recommendations. Building growth

Economic recovery is gaining ground in Europe. It began in mid-2013 and is expected to gain further strength and spread to all Member States by 2015. Financial stability is returning, the rise in public debt is being controlled and external competitiveness is improving, notably in the most vulnerable countries. This upturn brings the hope that the EU is moving out of the worst economic and financial crisis in its history and towards a more sustainable growth path that will generate jobs and improve standards of living. It also demonstrates that the stronger economic governance and supervision at EU level, decided in the depths of the crisis, has been instrumental in improving the conditions for more balanced growth.

However, there is no room for complacency and these hard-won gains need to be secured to consolidate our capacity to grow. Recovery is still fragile and unevenly spread. In many parts of Europe, the social situation is depressed and unemployment has reached unprecedented heights, in particular among young people. The room for manoeuvre of policy and economic actors is heavily constrained given the high levels of public and private debt. At the same time, the long-term challenges confronting the EU – from demographic ageing to productivity, competitiveness or the sustainable use of natural resources – have not gone away, and changes in the wider world mean that the EU must constantly adapt.

Over the last four years, the annual country-specific recommendations proposed by the Commission have been used as a compass to exit from the crisis and re-build growth. In this overview document, the Commission summarises its analysis of progress made over the last year, as spelled out in its recommendations. It also sets out its views on how the process has evolved over time and its relevance for the future.

ESO: Background information: Building growth: Country-specific recommendations 2014 http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-building-growth-country-specific-recommendations-2014/

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)400: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:400:FIN

---