13/11/2015 – Sian Jones, EAPN Policy Coordinator, was invited to participate in a small Reflecting Group composed of experts from EU institutions and stakeholders alike, to provide essential feedback for the completion of the final report due beginning of December 2015 on ‘Further Socializing the European Semester: Moving forward for the social Triple A’. The report provides the ‘state of play’ of how social and employment issues are being considered in the semester process – including important new developments in the 2015 cycle.
The report will also pinpoint shortcomings of the actual process and provide policy recommendations with a view to remedy the most important ones.
Background:
In June 2015, the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union asked the European Social Observatory (Bart Vanhercke) and the University of Amsterdam (Jonathan Zeitlin) to prepare the report.
The main questions addressed by the 13 November Reflecting Group are:
- How far the participants (who speak in their personal capacity) agree with the assessment that is provided in the Interim Report, both as regards the substantive and procedural developments of the European Semester?
- Does the report properly address the key developments, and are there any factual mistakes that need to be remedied?
- Which forthcoming initiatives (next days/weeks) would ideally be incorporated in the final report?
- Do the participants agree with the preliminary policy recommendations that are put forward? Are they sufficiently ambitious, pragmatic (realistic in the current EU framework) and addressed to the right actors?
