European Commission
Europe 2020

European Council

With its overview of EU policies and the interdependences between the EU and its Member States, the European Council is responsible for steering the strategy through:

• annual overall assessments of progress at EU and national level, at its spring meeting. It takes stock of the overall macroeconomic situation and progress towards the 5 EU-wide headline targets as well as the flagship initiatives. It also monitors progress on the Euro Plus Pact .
• horizontal policy guidance for the EU and the eurozone as a whole on the basis of the Annual Growth Survey presented by the Commission. It issues guidance at EU level covering fiscal, macroeconomic, structural reform and growth-enhancing policy areas.
• discussion of economic developments and priorities for the strategy.
• At its June meeting, endorsement of country specific recommendations, on the basis of a proposal by the Commission.

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Council of the EU (ministers)

Monitoring and peer review are the main task for the Council, where national ministers responsible for the relevant policy areas (e.g. competitiveness, employment and education) discuss implementation of the national reform programme in their area of competence. (progress towards targets and flagship initiatives)

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The Commission

• monitors the situation each year on the basis of a set of indicators, developed by Eurostat in cooperation with other services of the European Commission, showing overall progress towards the Europe 2020 headline targets
• produces an annual growth survey and assesses country reports and stability / convergence programmes. (The survey is the main input for discussions at the Spring meeting of the European Council).
• issues country specific policy recommendations and, if necessary, policy warnings to Member States (June), based on its analysis of their reports on progress towards national targets.

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Representations of the European Commission in the Member States

The European Semester was set up to reinforce budgetary and economic coordination and prevent threats to financial stability. To support it, the Commission is deploying European Semester Officers in the Commission’s Representations in the Member States. Many of them have already taken up their functions (in Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) and the remaining are expected to do so in the near future.

The European Semester Officers are expected to help to deliver better and closer economic policy coordination within the EU, as agreed by Member States.

How does it work in practice? The Officers are there – on the ground – to explain the sometimes complex details of economic governance. They work together with all relevant groups across society, including ministries, national, regional and local parliaments, social partners and other interest groups, to get a balanced picture of the challenges that a particular Member State is facing.

The Officers also reinforce the communication activities of the European Commission related to the Europe 2020 Strategy and the European Semester, with a special focus on the Country Specific Recommendations.

To find a European Semester Officer in your country, please consult the websites of the European Commission Representations.

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European Parliament

The European Parliament plays an important role in the strategy, not only as co-legislator – notably for the legislative proposals that are part of the flagship initiatives – but also as a driving force for mobilising citizens and national parliaments. Each year before the Spring European Council, Parliament may present a resolution assessing the Europe 2020 strategy as an input for discussions.

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European Economic and Social Committee

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) gives shape to the participation of national social partners and civil society in the practical implementation of the Europe2020 Strategy. It focuses on co-ownership of national societal forces in Europe2020 and on mobilising transborder networks. The EESC has a Europe2020 Steering Committee with the mandate:

• to coordinate and ensure consistency of the work carried out in the Committee, and in the Opinions on issues related to Europe2020;
• to organise meetings with national ESC´s and similar organisations to prepare joint initiatives and reports focusing on Europe2020;
• to coordinate with EESC Members and the Communication group on a Europe2020 communication by organised civil society.

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Committee of the Regions

Territorial cohesion is at the heart of the Europe 2020 strategy, and the Committee of the Regions (CoR) gives support for and policy input into the implementation of the strategy. The Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform of the CoR is a tool for the EU local and regional authorities to have a say in the policy process.

The Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform aims to:

• Involve local and regional authorities in order to ensure the better implementation of policies linked to Europe 2020 goals;
• Examine the evolving relationship between the Europe 2020 strategy and cohesion policy;
• Monitor the involvement of the local and regional level in the strategy's governance process;
• Identify the obstacles encountered by local and regional authorities in implementing the Europe 2020 strategy;
• Stimulate exchange of information, experiences and best practices.

The CoR has proposed that Europe 2020 be implemented through Territorial Pacts, i.e. agreements between local, regional and national authorities aimed at achieving the goals and targets of the new strategy in partnership.

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European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund

These two institutions play a central role in developing new financing instruments to respond to business needs. Both can back a ‛virtuous circle’ of profitable funding for innovation and entrepreneurship, right through from early stage investments to listing on stock markets. This can be done in partnership with the many public initiatives and schemes already in place at national level

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