The European Commission's 2022 European Semester Spring Package provides Member States with support and guidance two years on from the first impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the midst of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Spring 2022 Economic Forecast projects the EU economy to continue growing in 2022 and 2023. However, while the EU economy continues to show resilience, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has created a new environment, exacerbating pre-existing headwinds to growth, which were previously expected to subside. It also poses additional challenges to the EU economies related to security of energy supply and fossil fuel dependency on Russia. 

Linking the European Semester, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and REPowerEU

The case for reducing our dependency on fossil fuels from Russia has never been clearer. REPowerEU is about rapidly reducing our dependence on Russian fossil fuels by fast-forwarding the clean transition and joining forces to achieve a more resilient energy system and a true Energy Union.

The European Semester and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) - at the heart of NextGenerationEU - provide for robust frameworks to ensure effective policy coordination and to address the current challenges. The RRF will continue to drive Member States' reform and investment agendas for years to come. It is the main tool to speed up the twin green and digital transition and strengthen Member States' resilience, including through the implementation of national and cross-border measures in line with REPowerEU.

The country-specific recommendations adopted in the context of the European Semester provide guidance to Member States to adequately respond to persisting and new challenges and deliver on shared key policy objectives. This year, they include recommendations for reducing the dependency on fossil fuels through reforms and investments, in line with the REPowerEU priorities and the European Green Deal.

Employment guidelines

The Commission is also proposing guidelines - in the form of a Council decision - for Member States' employment policies in 2022. Every year, these guidelines set common priorities for national employment and social policies to make them fairer and more inclusive. Member States will now be called to approve them.

Member States' continued reforms and investments will be crucial to supporting high-quality job creation, the development of skills, smooth labour market transitions, and to address the ongoing labour shortages and skills mismatches in the EU. The guidelines provide steering on how to continue modernising labour market institutions, education and training, as well as social protection and health systems, in order to make them fairer and more inclusive.

This year, the Commission proposes to update the guidelines for Member States' employment policies with a strong focus on the post-COVID 19 environment, on making the green and digital transitions socially fair, as well as on reflecting recent policy initiatives, including in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, such as measures to enable access to the labour market for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Next steps

The Commission invites the Eurogroup and Council to discuss the package and endorse the guidance offered today. It looks forward to engaging in a constructive dialogue with the European Parliament on the contents of this package and each subsequent step in the European Semester cycle.