The Broad Economic Policy Guidelines: Before and After the Re-launch of the Lisbon Strategy

Abstract: This article explores the evolution of the European Union's Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs) since their introduction in 1993. It argues that the BEPGs have demonstrated value-added as an overarching instrument of policy co-ordination and as a catalyst for co-operation between European and national policy-makers. Notwithstanding this, the effectiveness of the BEPGs appears to have been hindered by the progressive accumulation of guidelines and by the failure of peer pressure to bite as a sanction mechanism. The re-launch of the Lisbon Strategy in March 2005 simplified and streamlined the BEPGs, embedding them within a new set of Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs. Key issues surrounding the future of the BEPGs concern their potential as a trigger for 'home grown' peer pressure, their attention to euro area specific issues and the involvement of the European Parliament in multilateral surveillance.