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Annual growth survey
The Council asked the Economic Policy Committee and the Economic and Financial Committee to prepare draft conclusions for its meeting on 12 February, taking into account the views expressed.
The Commission's survey outlines priority actions to be taken by Member States in order to ensure better coordinated and more effective policies for fostering sustainable economic growth. According to the survey, the EU economy is slowly starting to recover. To restore confidence and return to growth, the Commission considers it essential that Member States maintain a reform momentum, and it recommends focusing on the same five priorities that were identified in last year's survey:
The annual growth survey is the starting point for the European Semester, which involves simultaneous monitoring of the Member States' fiscal, economic and employment policies during a six-month period every year. The European Semester was organised for the first time in 2011, introduced as part of a reform of economic governance with the aim of ensuring a smoother functioning of the EU's monetary union.
In March, the European Council will assess implementation of country-specific recommendations made under the 2012 European Semester and will provide guidance for 2013.
Alert Mechanism Report
The Council asked the Economic Policy Committee and the Economic and Financial Committee to prepare draft conclusions for its meeting on 22 January, taking into account the views expressed.
In its report, the Commission identifies, on the basis of a scoreboard of economic indicators, which Member States may have an imbalance, and for which of them in-depth reviews are warranted. It recommends in-depth reviews of the situation in 14 member states, two more than last year. They are: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
This is the second annual report on application of regulation 1176/11 on the prevention and correction of macro-economic imbalances. The regulation is one of the "six-pack" of economic governance measures adopted in November last year in order to ensure a smoother functioning of the EU's monetary union. It introduces the possibility of imposing fines on euro area Member States found to be in an "excessive imbalance position" and repeatedly failing to comply with recommendations.
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