Archive:Europe 2020 indicators - introduction

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This article is part of a set of statistical articles, which provide recent statistics on the EU's Europe 2020 strategy. It presents the Europe 2020 strategy and the broader political context in which it is embedded. An executive summary article outlines the main statistical trends observed in the indicators. Five thematic articles present each of the thematic areas of the Europe 2020 strategy. Finally, a set of articles on the ‘country profiles’ describes the progress of each Member State towards its national Europe 2020 targets.

Providing statistical support to Europe 2020

Since 2013 Eurostat has been monitoring progress towards the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy. In this context, flagship publications – entitled Smarter, greener, more inclusive? — Indicators to support the Europe 2020 strategy – have been released since 2013, with the aim of providing statistical analyses related to important European Commission policy frameworks and relevant economic, social and environmental phenomena. These flagship publications present official statistics produced by the European Statistical System (ESS) and disseminated by Eurostat. Impartial and objective statistical information is essential for evidence-based political decision-making and defines Eurostat’s role in the context of the Europe 2020 strategy. It involves the development and choice of relevant indicators to support the strategy, the production and supply of statistical data, and the assurance of high quality standards. The analysis in the five thematic articles is based on the Europe 2020 headline indicators chosen to monitor the strategy’s targets. Other indicators focusing on specific subgroups of society or on related issues that show underlying trends are also used to deepen the analysis and present a broader picture. The data used mainly come from official ESS sources such as the EU Labour Force Survey (EU LFS) or the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU SILC), as well as from administrative sources. Data on EU-28 aggregates and individual Member States are presented and, where available, comparisons are made with the members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and candidate countries, as well as the United States and Japan. For some of the headline indicators, maps presenting the performances of Europe’s regions and their progress towards the national Europe 2020 targets are included, even though the targets only apply on a national level.

The analysis in the thematic articles looks into past trends, generally since 2002 or 2008, up to the most recent year for which data are available. Its purpose is not to predict whether the Europe 2020 targets will be reached, but to document and analyse the development of the headline indicators, while also painting a broader picture of the context using supplemental indicators. The articles include references to analyses published by the European Commission on the future efforts required to meet the targets. Most recent data on the headline indicators and information on the Europe 2020 strategy are available on a dedicated section of Eurostat’s website: Europe 2020 headline indicators.

The Europe 2020 strategy

The Europe 2020 strategy (European Commission, 2010), adopted by the European Council on 17 June 2010 as the successor of the Lisbon strategy, is the EU’s agenda for growth and jobs for the current decade. It emphasises smart, sustainable and inclusive growth as a way to overcome the structural weaknesses in Europe’s economy, improve its competitiveness and productivity and underpin a sustainable social market economy.

Three key priorities and eight targets

The Europe 2020 strategy puts forward three mutually reinforcing priorities to make Europe a smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive place to live:

• Smart growth, through the development of an economy based on knowledge, research and innovation.
• Sustainable growth, through the promotion of resource efficient, green and competitive markets.
• Inclusive growth, through policies aimed at fostering job creation and poverty reduction.

In a rapidly changing world, these priorities are deemed essential for making the European economy fit for the future and for delivering higher employment, productivity and social cohesion (European Commission, 2010). Under the three key priorities, the EU adopted eight targets, as shown in Figure 1:

• The smart growth objective is covered by targets on innovation (gross domestic expenditure on R&D) and education (early leavers from education and training and tertiary educational attainment).
• The sustainable growth objective is covered by three targets on climate change and energy (greenhouse gas emissions, share of renewable energy in gross final energy consumption and primary energy consumption).
• The inclusive growth objective is covered by targets on employment (employment rate) and on poverty and social exclusion (people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, combining the dimensions on monetary poverty, material deprivation and living in a household with very low work intensity)

Figure 1: The Europe 2020 strategy's key priorities, targets and flagship initiatives

The targets are monitored using a set of eight headline indicators and additional sub-indicators related to various dimensions of the data (such as the multidimensional concept of poverty and social exclusion). For a detailed overview of the indicators, see Table 1 in the Executive summary. The strategy's objectives and targets are further supported by thematic flagship initiatives, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 2: Europe 2020 strategy five thematic areas

The eight targets belong to five thematic areas: employment, education, poverty and social exclusion, climate change and energy and research and development, as shown in Figure 2. These five areas are strongly interlinked. For example, higher educational levels are associated with better employability and increasing the employment rate helps to reduce poverty. A greater capacity for research and development as well as innovation across all sectors of the economy, combined with increased resource efficiency, would improve competitiveness and foster job creation. Investing in cleaner, low-carbon technologies would help the environment, contribute to the fight against climate change and create new business and employment opportunities (European Commission, 2010, p.11).

The EU targets have been translated into national targets. These reflect each Member State’s situation and the level of ambition they are able to reach as part of the EU-wide effort for implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. However, in some cases, the national targets are not sufficiently ambitious cumulatively to reach the EU-level ambition. For example, the fulfilment of all national targets in the area of employment would bring the overall EU-28 employment rate up to 74 %, which would still be one percentage point below the Europe 2020 target of 75 %. Similarly, even if all Member States met their national targets on R&D expenditure, the EU would still fall short of its target of 3 % R&D intensity, reaching only 2.6 % by 2020 (European Commission, 2014, p. 12-16).

Seven flagship initiatives

To ensure progress towards the Europe 2020 goals, a broad range of existing EU policies and instruments are used, including the single market, the EU budget and external policy tools. The ten priorities of the Commission (see section “Ten priorities for the EU” below) guide the EU policies and help ensure progress towards smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The strategy itself identified seven policy areas where growth and jobs were put forward through the following seven flagship initiatives: ‘Innovation Union’, ‘Youth on the move’ , ‘Digital agenda for Europe’, ‘Resource efficient Europe’ , ‘An industrial policy for the globalisation era’, ‘Agenda for new skills and jobs’ and ‘European platform against poverty and social exclusion’.

Taking stock of Europe 2020 – how to pursue smart, sustainable and inclusive growth?

In March 2014, the Commission published its communication ‘Taking stock of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’. It showed that the experience with the targets and flagship initiatives has been mixed: ‘The EU is on course to meet or come close to its targets on education, climate and energy but not on employment, research and development and poverty reduction’. The Commission concluded that while the targets have helped focus on longer-term, underlying features crucial to the future of the EU’s society and economy, their translation to the national level has highlighted several uncomfortable trends. These include a growing gap between the best and the least well performing Member States, a widening gap between regions within and across Member States, and growing inequalities in the distribution of wealth and income (European Commission, 2014, p. 21).

According to the Commission’s stocktaking, some long-term trends affecting growth would have to be addressed. These involve the societal change (in particular related to the ageing of European populations), the globalisation and trade (and the implications for the competitiveness of EU companies and access to new markets), the productivity developments and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as catalysts of growth, and the pressure on resources and environmental concerns. Between May and October 2014, the Commission conducted a public consultation to gather the views of stakeholders on the first years of the strategy. The results of the public consultation were published in March 2015. The main messages were as follows:

• Europe 2020 is seen as a relevant overarching framework to promote jobs and growth at EU and national level. Its objectives and priorities are meaningful in the light of current and future challenges.
• The five headline targets represent key catalysts for jobs and growth and help to keep the strategy focused.
• Most of the flagship initiatives have served their purpose, yet their visibility has remained weak.
• There is scope and a need to improve the delivery of the strategy through enhanced ownership and involvement on the ground.

In the 2016 Annual Growth Survey, which was published in November 2015, the Commission said that it will make the best use of the Europe 2020 strategy and its tools by improving its implementation and monitoring in the context of the European Semester.

The European Semester: annual cycle of policy coordination

Figure 3: The European Semester.

The success of the Europe 2020 strategy crucially depends on Member States coordinating their efforts. To ensure this, the European Commission has set up an annual cycle of EU-level policy coordination known as the European Semester. Its main purpose is to strengthen economic policy coordination and ensure the coherence of the budgetary and economic policies of Member States with the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and the Europe 2020 strategy. The Annual Growth Survey (AGS), normally adopted by the Commission towards the end of the year, marks the start of the European Semester. It sets out overall economic, budgetary and social priorities at EU and national level, which are to guide Member States. Based on the AGS, each Member State has to submit its economic and budgetary plans annually in the National Reform Programmes (NRPs) and Stability and Convergence Programmes (SCPs). In the NRPs, Member States present concrete reforms and measures towards implementing the Europe 2020 strategy. This period of integrated country surveillance starts before the first half of each year, when national economic and budgetary policies have still not been finalised. The aim is to detect inconsistencies and emerging imbalances and issue early warnings and recommendations in due course (see European Union Explained). The NRPs and SCPs are submitted to the European Commission for assessment in April. At the end of June or in early July, country-specific recommendations are formally endorsed by the Council. These recommendations address the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy and other economic challenges on the national level and provide a timeframe for Member States to respond accordingly and implement the policy advice in their annual economic policy and budgetary cycle.

To ensure progress towards the Europe 2020 goals, a broad range of existing EU policies and instruments are used, including the single market, the EU budget and external policy tools. Central to tackling the weaknesses revealed by the economic crisis and to achieving the Europe 2020 objectives of growth and competitiveness is the promotion of enhanced economic governance. The two important elements in this respect are the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP) and the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) based on the Stability and Growth Pact.

In June 2015, the President of the European Commission presented a report titled “Completing Europe's Economic and Monetary Union”, also known as the Five Presidents’ Report . It proposed a roadmap for strengthening the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) by taking actions on four fronts – economic, financial, fiscal and political. As laid out in the roadmap, a number of immediate steps should be taken by mid-2017. The roadmap supports the implementation of the Europe 2020 strategy by proposing concrete steps towards “job creation, growth and prosperity for all citizens”.

As a follow up to the Five President’s report, the European Commission issued a communication on ‘Steps towards completing the Economic and Monetary Union’. It laid out a plan for strengthening the European Semester by better integrating European and national dimensions, placing stronger focus on employment and social performance, promoting convergence by benchmarking and pursuing best practices, as well as by supporting structural reforms through the provision of EU funds and technical assistance.

Europe 2020 in a broader policy perspective

Ten priorities for the EU

Prior to his election as president of the European Commission in July 2014, Jean-Claude Juncker presented his political agenda, highlighting ten priority areas, in a document entitled 'A New Start for Europe: My Agenda for Jobs, Growth Fairness and Democratic Change' (see Box 1). These are referred to as ‘political guidelines’ for the European Commission and address some of the key challenges facing the European economy and society. Emphasis is placed on achieving concrete results in the identified priority areas whereas other policy areas are left to Member States who are considered better equipped to form effective policy responses at national, regional and local level.

In September 2015, the Commission released a report on Progress on the European Commission’s 10 Priorities. As outlined in the document, the investment plan for jobs and growth has been launched and has started to show results – the ambition is to mobilise at least 315 billion euros for investment over a three year period. During its first year in office, the European Commission also started work on the Energy Union, the Digital Single Market, and a Capital Markets Union, among others. A roadmap for deepening the Economic and Monetary Union was presented in the Five Presidents’ Report (European Commission, 2015). The trade negotiations with the US are underway and the Commission has taken measures to make the process more transparent. The Commission has also worked towards a coordinated European response to the challenges of increased movement of migrants and refugees.

Box 1: The ten European Commission priorities:

1. A new boost for jobs, growth and investment
2. A connected digital single market
3. A resilient Energy Union with a forward-looking climate change policy
4. A deeper and fairer internal market with a strengthened industrial base
5. A deeper and fairer Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
6. A reasonable and balanced free trade agreement with the United States
7. An area of Justice and Fundamental Rights based on mutual trust
8. Towards a new policy on migration
9. Europe as a stronger global actor
10. A Union of democratic change.

The international agenda for sustainable development

The 2030 Agenda was formally adopted by world leaders at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. The document, titled ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 agenda for sustainable development’, consists of a declaration, a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs; see Box 2 for a full list) and 169 related targets, a section on the means of implementation and on the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda.

The 2030 Agenda was the result of an inclusive consultation with a broad range of stakeholders. Initial input was provided by UN System Task Team on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda , a High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons , and the general public , among others.

A first proposal of sustainable development goals and targets was prepared by an Open Working Group of the UN General Assembly, established in January 2013. It became the basis for a round of intergovernmental negotiations between UN Member States, which culminated with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in September 2015 . In its 2013 communication, ‘A decent life for all: ending poverty and giving the world a sustainable future’, the European Commission showed commitment to actively engage in the post-2015 processes and work towards the implementation of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. The document proposes principles for an overarching framework that provides a coherent and comprehensive response to the universal challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in its three dimensions, with the ultimate goal of ensuring a decent life for all by 2030.

In June 2014, the Commission published a follow-up to its communication, entitled ‘A decent Life for all: from vision to collective action’. Building on the existing EU position concerning the development of the SDGs, this new communication further elaborated key principles and set out possible priority areas and potential target topics for the ‘post-2015 framework’. ‘Statistics’ was one of the areas listed in the communication for which actions have been taken that contribute to the implementation of Rio+20.

The EU support was further conveyed in European Council conclusions on a transformative post-2015 agenda, released in December 2014, which state that the implementation of the post-2015 agenda would require a global partnership based on the principles of “universality, shared responsibility, mutual accountability, consideration of respective capabilities, and the adoption of a multi-stakeholder approach”. The European Council further elaborated on the need to set up a new global partnership for poverty eradication and sustainable development after 2015 in Council conclusions of May 2015.

Box 2: The Sustainable Development Goals:

Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (*)

Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

(*) Acknowledging that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the primary international, intergovernmental forum for negotiating the global response to climate change.

The development of an indicator framework for monitoring progress towards the SDGs has been guided by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC), the leading statistical body of the UN. For the purpose, the UNSC established an Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG indicators (IEAG-SDGs) . In December 2015, a report of the IAEG-SDGs was submitted to the Statistical Commissions, including an Annex (updated version of February 2016) with a list of 241 indicator to measure progress towards the 169 targets of the SDGs. The Statistical Commission agreed on the indicator list at its 47th meeting in March 2016, "as a practical starting point […] subject to future technical refinement". Further work is envisaged in terms of improving the indicator list and the availability of data.

As mentioned above, the indicator framework developed by the expert group will monitor progress towards the SDGs on the global level. It is expected that the global indicators will form the core of other indicator sets for regional, national and thematic monitoring. Additional and in some cases different indicators might be used at different levels of monitoring. Member States will have to develop their own indicators sets, while indicators for thematic monitoring are already considered in a number of areas .

See also

• Europe 2020 headline indicators

Further Eurostat information

Publications

• Smarter, greener, more inclusive? - Indicators to support the Europe 2020 strategy - 2014 edition

Main tables

• Europe 2020 indicators

Dedicated section

• Europe 2020 indicators

Methodology / Metadata

• Towards robust quality management for European Statistics - Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council COM(2011) 211 final.

Other information

• Regulation 223/2009 of 11 March 2009 on European statistics

External links

• European Commission website Europe 2020