Country-specific recommendations 2015: Further efforts needed to support a robust recovery

Further policy is needed to return to self-sustaining growth. The European Commission today adopted country-specific economic policy recommendations for 2015 and 2016 asking for national actions to create jobs and stimulate growth.

These recommendations reflect the Commission’s economic and social agenda.

Since President Juncker’s Commission took office in November 2014 and published its Annual Growth Survey 2015, this agenda has focused on three mutually reinforcing pillars:

• boosting investment,.
• implementing structural reforms and.
• pursuing fiscal responsibility.

The successful implementation of the 2015 country-specific recommendations will be key to making Europe’s return to jobs and growth sustainable and less dependent on the external, cyclical factors that currently support the recovery.

A stronger and streamlined European Semester

The European Commission has made a number of changes to the European Semester process, the EU's calendar for economic policy coordination, with the aim of increasing political ownership and accountability of European and national decision-making. These include:

• a better focus on the priorities of the Annual Growth Survey 2015 with fewer recommendations on just a few, key priority areas for action.
• an earlier publication of country-specific and euro area analyses to allow for deep discussions with Member States and social partners on the key issues.
• a more intensive outreach at political and technical levels to discuss past and future recommendations.
• an adjusted timetable to give more time for all actors to discuss and agree priorities from a European perspective and to compare national performance and priorities in this light.

The 2015 country-specific recommendations

The Commission is making recommendations for 26 countries and for the euro area as a whole. These recommendations reflect the following priorities:

• boosting investment to support future growth. This requires the removal of barriers to financing and launching investment projects and the swift implementation of the Commission’s €315 billion Investment Plan for Europe.
• delivering ambitious structural reforms in product, service and labour markets that raise productivity, competitiveness and investment. By boosting job creation and growth, these reforms will contribute to prosperity and greater social fairness. Reforms in the financial sector will ease access to finance for investment and lessen the negative impact of deleveraging in the banking, private and public sectors.
• pursuing responsible fiscal policies that strike a balance between short-term stabilisation and long-term sustainability. Member States with high deficits or debt levels need to make further efforts to fix their balance sheets, while Member States with fiscal space should take measures to support productive investment. Changes in the composition of public finances should make them more supportive to growth.
• improving employment policy and social protection to enable, support and protect people throughout their lives and to ensure stronger social cohesion as a key component of sustainable economic growth.