The Commission has proposed country-specific recommendations (CSRs) providing economic policy guidance to all EU Member States in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, focused on the most urgent challenges brought about by the pandemic and on relaunching sustainable growth.

The recommendations are structured around two objectives: in the short-term, mitigating the coronavirus pandemic's severe negative socio-economic consequences; and in the short to medium-term, achieving sustainable and inclusive growth which facilitates the green transition and the digital transformation.

The recommendations cover areas such as:

• investing in public health and resilience of the health sector
• preserving employment through income support for affected workers
• investing in people and skills
• supporting the corporate sector (in particular small and medium-sized enterprises) and
• taking action against aggressive tax planning and money laundering.

Recovery and investment must go hand-in-hand, reshaping the EU economy faced with the digital and green transitions.

Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, said: “Supporting workers, reinforcing social protection, fighting inequalities and guaranteeing people the right to develop their skills will be top priorities for our economic response to the crisis, as well as to ensure inclusive green and digital transitions. We can only achieve this together. The European Pillar of Social Rights remains our compass in these endeavours. The post-coronavirus recovery must foster resilience and upward convergence by putting people at the centre.”

Next steps

A coordinated European economic response is crucial to relaunch economic activity, mitigate damage to the economic and social fabric, and to reduce divergences and imbalances. The European Semester of economic and employment policy coordination therefore constitutes a crucial element of the recovery strategy.

Against this background, the Commission calls on the Council to adopt these country-specific recommendations and on Member States to implement them fully and in a timely manner.