EPC: Rethinking EU economic governance: The European Semester

03 December 2021

Reforming and strengthening it is vital given the multiple challenges the EU faces, from the twin green and digital transitions to implementing the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and tackling the macroeconomic and structural scars left by COVID-19.

In the debates over the future of the EU’s economic governance, the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) usually takes centre stage. But the European Semester – the framework governing economic policy coordination and country surveillance – is also critical.

This Policy Brief, the second in a series of EPC papers that reassess the EU's economic governance policies, sets out proposals for reforming the European Semester across three strands: (i) integrating the RRF into the Semester; (ii) drawing on the positive lessons of the RRF process; and (iii) improving the effectiveness of cross-cutting policy coordination and the Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure (MIP).

This paper draws on the insights of the EPC’s Task Force on Rethinking EU Economic Governance. The contents and views expressed are entirely the work of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the views of any Task Force member. A paper on the European Semester and the Recovery and Resilience Facility has already been published. Another paper on social investment and a final overview will follow this publication.


Read the full paper here.

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