- 9 countries have “Poverty CSRs”, according to the Commission: BE, BG, ES, HU, LT, LV, PL, RO, UK. This compares to 24 countries receiving CSRs on sound public finances and labour market participation and 23 on Education.
- 5 countries are also recommended by the Council to enter into the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP): IT, HU, LT, LV and RO. The last 4 have poverty recommendations..
- The Troika Programme countries (Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Cyprus) get no CSRs as they are monitored under the Troika programmes.
- The main focus is still on deficit and debt reduction and reduction of imbalances, calling on deficit countries to ‘’increase their competiveness’’ and ‘’surplus countries to remove obstacles to growth.
- The Commission’s assessment highlights that unemployment, including youth and long-term unemployment have reached unacceptably high levels calling for determined and urgent action. It highlights that additional time is granted to MS, get their deficits below 3% of GDP, but underlines that back-tracking on fiscal consolidation is not an option…
- However, there is more focus on the relevance of fairness, investing in human capital and providing adequate, affordable services, with greater attention to the distributional impact of the reforms. For more efficiency in public expenditure, and fairness and effectiveness of the tax system including fighting tax evasion and fraud.
- Specific attention is called for on child poverty, homelessness, in-work poverty and over-indebtedness, and ensuring the effectiveness of welfare systems, but no mention of active inclusion.
- Social partners and civil society are called upon to help develop and implement the right responses to these challenges.
What are Country-Specific Recommandations?
Once a year the Commission reviews the economic and social performance of each EU Member State and makes country- specific recommendations to guide national policies in the coming year. Against the background of a deep economic and financial crisis, which is caus ing social hardship for many, and recent forecasts which show that the EU is slowly recovering from a protracted recession, this year’s recommendations will receive particularly close scrutiny. The purpose of regular surveillance by the Commission is:
- To identify the major economic and social challenges for the EU and the Euro area, reflecting the growing interdependence between our economies
- To assess progress, pick up warning signs of problems earlier than in the past and through recommendations to guide Member States to implement their policies in ways that help the EU to adjust and grow sustainably, providing jobs and decent living standards for all its citizens.
All documents available on the European Commission’s page here: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/making-it-happen/country-specific-recommendations/index_en.htm
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