Brussels, 05/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is seeking guidance in its review of the EUROPE 2020 strategy and comments on future developments, and on Monday 5 May, it decided to open a public consultation exercise that will run until 31 October 2014 on the strategy, which impacts on a number of policy areas, such as economic and financial affairs, competitiveness, industry, the single market, jobs, research and development, innovation, the digital economy, climate, energy, efficient use of resources, education, training and tackling poverty and social exclusion.
The EUROPE 2020 strategy was launched in March 2010 as the EU's strategy for promoting smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The Commission explains that it aims to achieve a knowledge-based, competitive European economy while preserving the EU's social market economy model and improving resource efficiency.
The EUROPE 2020 strategy is built around five headline targets in the areas of employment, research and development (R&D), climate and energy, education and the fight against poverty and social exclusion. The strategy also set out a series of action programmes, known as flagship initiatives, in seven fields considered to be key drivers of growth, namely innovation, the digital economy, employment, youth, industrial policy, poverty and resource efficiency. The objectives of the strategy are also supported by action at EU level in areas such as the single market, the EU budget and the EU external agenda.
The EUROPE 2020 strategy is implemented and monitored in the context of the European semester, the yearly cycle of coordination of economic and budgetary policies at EU level. The European semester involves discussion among EU institutions on broad priorities, annual commitments by the member states and country-specific recommendations prepared by the Commission and endorsed at the highest level by leaders in the European Council. These recommendations should then be taken on board in the member states' policies and budgets. As such, together with the EU budget, the country-specific recommendations are key instruments for the implementation of the EUROPE 2020 strategy.
After four years, the Commission has proposed, and the European Council of 20-21 March 2014 has agreed, to initiate a review of the EUROPE 2020 strategy. On 5 March 2014, the Commission adopted a communication, Taking stock of the EUROPE 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, drawing preliminary lessons on the first years of implementation of the strategy. The Commission says it is time to reflect on the design of the strategy for the coming years. The March communication shows that, in terms of education climate and energy, the EU is approaching the targets it set itself or is about to achieve them but the same cannot be said for employment, R&D or reducing poverty. The EU's economic governance is implemented and monitored each year as part of the European semester, which has been beefed up in recent years and the Commission says it is now strong enough to achieve the post-crisis priorities that will be needed to meet the EUROPE 2020 targets.
The Commission explains that, through the questions put in the consultation, it is seeking interested parties' views on the “lessons learned from the early years of the EUROPE 2020 strategy and on the elements to be taken into account in its further development, in order to build the post-crisis growth strategy of the EU”.
After the consultation exercise, in early 2015, the European Commission will publish proposals on pursuit of the strategy. (LC)