Brussels, 16/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The European Council on Thursday 17 March will set out the social and economic priorities given in the European Commission's Annual Growth Review, the document that kicks off the European Semester budget process (see EUROPE 11439).
These priorities are based on the following triptych: boosting investment, pursuing structural reforms and running “responsible” budget policies, according to a draft conclusions document dated Monday 14 March. A high-ranking national civil servant said it was important for the European Summit to continue to send this kind of “political message.”
It will be for the member states to incorporate the priorities in this national stability and reform programmes, to be submitted to the Commission in the second fortnight of April and which the European institution will use for the country-specific recommendations it will be unveiling in May.
No big decisions are expected at the summit in the economic domain, which will quickly examine the subject before focusing on the refugee crisis (see related article). The EU28 will meet up in June to discuss work to complete economic and monetary union (EMU) by concluding Banking Union in the eurozone, deepening the Single Market, particularly for digital matters, and progress towards a Union of Capital Markets. The ECB will take advantage of the opportunity to present its recent decisions to stimulate the economy by reducing interest rates and extending quantitative easing (see EUROPE 11509). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Camille-Cerise Gessant)