José Manuel Barroso, President of the EC, and Olli Rehn, Member of the EC in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs, participated in the conference entitled "Towards integrated economic governance in the EU: The European Semester", organised in Brussels. Europe has a comprehensive plan to respond to the crisis and to speed up Europe's economic growth.
It now needs to focus its efforts in a coordinated manner and with an eye on priorities. That is what the Commission presented at the conference. The Annual Growth Survey charted a clear direction on where Europe should be heading in the next year, with ten pressing actions focused on macro-economic stability and fiscal consolidation, structural reforms and growth-enhancing measures.
The Annual Growth Survey is the start of the first "European Semester" which changes the way governments shape their economic and fiscal policies. Once agreed by the European Council, Member states will reflect these recommendations in both their policies and national budgets. For the first time ever, Member States and Commission will therefore jointly discuss macro-economic stability, structural reforms and boosting growth measures in a comprehensive way.