Brussels, 30/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Council has set a direction for the legislative work over the next five years - but without entering into detail on the measures to be taken.
After the European Council on Friday 27 June, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy listed five priorities and stated that this strategic programme aims to achieve what the people expect from the EU and pays particular attention to the economic priorities.
“There was a wide consensus in the room [around the European Council table] that we need at the same time to continue on the path of reform and fiscal consolidation and to carry out the investments needed for the future. Both are essential for a healthy economy. To balance fiscal discipline with the need to support growth, the EU's existing fiscal framework offers possibilities, which should be used”, Van Rompuy said. He also tried to explain the importance of using the flexibility in the stability and growth pact - but without reforming it (see EUROPE 11110): “What does it mean? That we are all committed to the Stability and Growth Pact and that it is a matter of making best use of the flexibility that is built into the existing Stability and Growth Pact rules”.
The conclusions state that the European Council set five overarching priorities which will guide the work of the European Union over the next five years - stronger economies with more jobs; societies enabled to empower and protect; a secure energy and climate future; a trusted area of fundamental freedoms; and effective joint action in the world. “Though the recovery in Europe is gaining pace, unemployment is still our highest concern - especially for young people - and inequalities are on the rise.”
A Union of jobs, growth and competitiveness. The Council conclusions document states that important challenges remain - slow growth, high unemployment, insufficient public and private investment, macroeconomic imbalances, public debt, and a lack of competitiveness. The EU needs to take “bold” steps to foster growth, increase investment, create more and better jobs and encourage reforms for competitiveness. “This also requires making best use of the flexibility that is built into the existing Stability and Growth Pact rules.” The priorities set are therefore to (1) fully exploit the potential of the single market in all its dimensions (by completing the internal market in products and services; by completing the digital single market by 2015); (2) promote a climate of entrepreneurship and job creation, especially for SMEs (by facilitating access to finance and investment, by improving the functioning of labour markets and by shifting taxes away from labour); (3) invest and prepare the EU's economies for the future (by addressing “overdue” investment needs in transport, energy and telecoms infrastructure as well as in energy efficiency, innovation and research); (4) reinforce the global attractiveness of the Union as a place of production and investment with a strong and competitive industrial base and thriving agriculture, and complete negotiations on international trade agreements, in a spirit of mutual and reciprocal benefit and transparency, including the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP), by 2015; (5) make the economic and monetary union a more solid and resilient factor of stability and growth (with stronger euro area governance and stronger economic policy coordination, convergence and solidarity, “while respecting the integrity of the internal market and preserving transparency and openness towards non-euro EU countries”.
A Union that empowers and protects all citizens. According to the Council conclusions document, the EU must keep doing what it is good at and continue to unlock opportunities - but it must also be perceived and experienced as a source of protection.
While respecting the competences of member states, “who are responsible for their welfare systems”, the priorities set for the Union in this field for the next five years are to (1) help develop skills and unlock talents and life chances for all (by stepping up the fight against youth unemployment, in particular for young people who have dropped out from education, employment or training; by promoting the right skills for the modern economy and life-long learning; by facilitating mobility of workers, especially in fields with persistent vacancies or skills mismatches; by “protecting (…) the right of all EU citizens to move freely and reside and work in other member states”, including fighting against “possible misuse or fraudulent claims”; (2) guarantee fairness (by combating tax evasion and tax fraud).
Towards an energy union with a forward-looking climate policy. “We must avoid Europe relying to such a high extent on fuel and gas imports”, the Council conclusions document states. To ensure “our energy future is under full control, we want to build an energy union aiming at affordable, secure and sustainable energy”. Energy efficiency is essential, the Council states, (“the cheapest and cleanest energy is that which is not consumed”). In order to address this challenge, the EU's energy and climate policies for the upcoming five years must focus on (1) affordable energy for companies and citizens (by moderating energy demand thanks to enhanced energy efficiency; by completing an integrated energy market; by finding ways to increase the Union's bargaining power; by increasing transparency on the gas market; by stimulating research, development and the European industrial base in the energy field); (2) secure energy for all EU countries (by speeding up the diversification of energy supply and routes, including through renewable, safe and sustainable and other indigenous energy sources, as a means to reducing energy dependency, notably on a single source or supplier; by developing the necessary infrastructure such as interconnections; by providing private and public actors with the right planning framework so they can take mid- to long-term investment decisions; (3) green energy (by continuing to lead the fight against global warming ahead of the United Nations COP 2015 meeting in Paris and beyond, including by setting ambitious 2030 targets that are fully in line with the agreed EU objective for 2050).
A Union of freedom, security and justice. Given their cross-border dimensions, phenomena like terrorism and organised crime call for stronger EU cooperation. The same is true for justice matters, since citizens increasingly study, work, do business, get married and have children across the Union. Another challenge to be addressed in the years ahead will be managing migration flows, which are on the rise due to instability and poverty in large parts of the world and demographic trends - “a matter which requires solidarity and fair sharing of responsibility”. The action that the Council advocates is to (1) better manage migration in all its aspects (by addressing shortages of specific skills and attracting talent; by dealing more robustly with irregular migration, also through better cooperation with third countries, including on readmission; by protecting those in need through a strong asylum policy; with a strengthened, modern management of the Union's external borders); (2) prevent and combat crime and terrorism (by cracking down on organised crime, such as human trafficking, smuggling and cybercrime; by tackling corruption; by fighting terrorism and countering radicalisation - while guaranteeing fundamental rights and values, including the protection of personal data); (3) improve judicial cooperation among EU countries (by building bridges between the different justice systems and traditions; by strengthening common tools, including Eurojust; by mutual recognition of judgments, so that citizens and companies can more easily exercise their rights across the Union).
The Union as a strong global actor. Instability in the EU's wider neighbourhood is at an all-time high, the European Council states. At the same time it has never been as important to engage the EU's partners on issues of mutual or global interest. The following foreign policy priorities will therefore be key in the years ahead (1) maximise European clout (by improving coordination and coherence between the main fields of EU external action, such as trade, energy, justice and home affairs, development and economic policies); (2) be a strong partner in the EU's neighbourhood (by promoting stability, prosperity and democracy in the countries closest to the EU, on the European continent, in the Mediterranean, Africa and in the Middle East) (3) engage the EU's global strategic partners, in particular its transatlantic partners, on a wide range of issues - from trade and cyber security to human rights and conflict prevention, to non-proliferation and crisis management - bilaterally and in multilateral fora); (4) develop security and defence cooperation so the EU can live up to its commitments and responsibilities across the world (by strengthening the common security and defence policy, in full complementarity with NATO; by ensuring that member states maintain and develop the necessary civilian and military capabilities, including through pooling and sharing; by strengthening European defence industry). (LC)