The European Semester

The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
  Members of the Eurozone
  ERM II member with opt-out (Denmark)
  ERM II members
  Other EU members

The European Semester of the European Union was established in 2010 as an annual cycle of economic and fiscal policy coordination. It provides a central framework of processes within the EU socio-economic governance.[1] The European Semester is a core component of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and it annually aggregates different processes of control, surveillance and coordination of budgetary, fiscal, economic and social policies. It also offers a large space for discussions and interactions between the European institutions and Member States.[2] As a recurrent cycle of budgetary cooperation among the EU Member States, it runs from November to June and is preceded in each country by a national semester running from July to October in which the recommendations introduced by the Commission and approved by the Council are to be adopted by national parliaments and construed into national legislation.[3]

The European Semester has evolved over the years with a gradual inclusion of social, economic, and employment objectives and it is governed by mainly three pillars which are a combination of hard and soft law due a mix of surveillance mechanisms and possible sanctions with coordination processes.[1]

The main objectives of the European Semester are noted as: contributing to ensuring convergence and stability in the EU; contributing to ensuring sound public finances; fostering economic growth; preventing excessive macroeconomic imbalances in the EU; and implementing the Europe 2020 strategy.[4] However, the rate of the implementation of the recommendations adopted during the European Semester has been disappointing and has gradually declined since its initiation in 2011 which has led to an increase in the debate/criticism towards the effectiveness of the European Semester.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Verdun, Amy; Zeitlin, Jonathan (2018). "Introduction: the European Semester as a new architecture of EU socioeconomic governance in theory and practice". Journal of European Public Policy. 25 (2): 137–148. doi:10.1080/13501763.2017.1363807. hdl:1828/12656. ISSN 1350-1763.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Papadopoulos, Yannis; Piattoni, Simona (2019-04-13). "The European Semester: Democratic Weaknesses as Limits to Learning". European Policy Analysis. 5 (1): 58–79. doi:10.1002/epa2.1060. ISSN 2380-6567.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).