Report shows how EU emerged from recession in 2013
Last year was the year Europe's efforts to beat the crisis finally began to pay off, the General Report on the EU's activities for 2013 has found.
Some of the EU's achievements over the last year include adopting rules to tighten up budgetary coordination in the euro area (Two Pack laws), agreeing on a Single Supervisory Mechanism for banks, adopting an ambitious seven-year budget (the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-20) and coming up with new ways to tackle high youth unemployment – including through a youth guarantee and a €6 billion fund at EU level.
"In 2013 we see that our efforts have started to pay off," President Barroso wrote in a foreword to the report. "For Europe, recovery is within sight," he added. "Laying the foundations of a renewed Union of stability and responsibility, growth and solidarity is a long, complex and at times painful process. But we are making steady progress, at both the European and the national level."
The EU also played a strong role in addressing global issues in 2013, including bringing about a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme, maintaining a political dialogue in Syria and strengthening stability and democracy in Europe’s neighbourhood, both in north Africa and in eastern Europe. Last year also saw an EU-facilitated agreement between Kosovo and Serbia that opened the door to a normalisation of their relations. And 2013 was the year the EU began historic and wide-ranging talks on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the US.
"There is still a lot of work to be done to put our economies firmly back on track, to significantly reverse the trend of unemployment, to ensure a properly functioning economic and monetary union with a stronger social dimension and to enhance our Union’s democratic legitimacy and accountability," President Barroso said, adding that Europe would shows its "will to act, to shape our destiny, to rise to the challenge over and over again".
Background
The General Report on the Activities of the European Union is published every year, and illustrates the actions undertaken by the European institutions and the most important developments and achievements of the European Union in the preceding year. The Report is available online in PDF and e-book versions in 23 languages or can be ordered in hard copy from the EU bookshop.
Report is available online in PDF and e-book versions in 23 languages