Editor's note
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Thursday, 28.03.2024, 18:58
Baltic States & the European Semester: positive news
Commission has set out European economic and social priorities for 2019 and presented its opinions on the member states’ draft budgetary plans. It confirmed a different “level of compliance” between the member states’ development plans and the EU’s stability and growth targets. All three Baltic States’ draft budgetary plans are “compliant” with the EU strategies.
Member states’ budget control
Twice a year –in spring and in autumn- the Commission
assesses the member states smart, inclusive and sustainable growth, which shall
correspond to their budgetary plans. It also helps in job creation while
enhancing the resilience of the member states' economies. At the national
level, there is a pressing need to use the current growth momentum to build up
fiscal buffers and reduce debt. Investment and structural reforms need to focus
even more on boosting productivity and growth potential. These actions will
provide the conditions for sustained macro-financial stability and serve EU's
long-term competitiveness. This in turn will create the conditions for more and
better jobs, greater social fairness and better living standards for citizens.
A lot has been achieved since 2014 but more must be done to
support inclusive and sustainable growth and job creation in the EU states.
The 2019 European Semester cycle of economic and social
policy coordination witness less dynamic growth in high uncertainty: there is a pressing need to use the current
growth momentum to build up fiscal buffers and reduce debt in the member states.
Investment and structural reforms need to focus even more on boosting
productivity and growth potential to provide for sustained
macro-financial stability and long-term competitiveness.
This autumn’s package is based on the 2018 economic forecast and
builds on the priorities set out in President Juncker's 2018 State of the
Union address. Thus, growth in the
euro area has been 2.4% in 2017, reduced to 2.1% in 2018 before moderating
further to 1.9% in 2019 and 1.7% in 2020. The same pattern is expected for the
EU-27, with growth forecast at 2.2% in 2018, 2.0% in 2019 and 1.9% in 2020.
References to the autumn forecast at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-6254_en.htm.
The state of the Union in:
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/state-union-speeches/state-union-2018_en
General reference at: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-18-6462_en.htm
Baltic States: compliance with the DBPs
The Commission also reviewed whether the 2019 Draft
Budgetary Plans (DBPs) of the 19 euro area member states comply with the
Stability and Growth Pact, SGP.
In the so-called preventive
arm of the Stability and Growth Pact, SGP: ten states - Germany,
Ireland, Greece, Cyprus, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, and Finland, their plans (DBPs) have
been compliant with the SGP in 2019.
For three states – Estonia,
Latvia and Slovakia, the DBPs are broadly
compliant with the SGP in 2019. For these countries, the plans might
result in some deviation from the country's medium-term budgetary objective
(MTO) or the adjustment path towards it.
For four states – Belgium, France, Portugal and Slovenia,
the DBPs pose a risk of non-compliance with the SGP in 2019. The DBPs of
these states might result in a significant deviation from the adjustment paths
towards the respective medium-term budgetary objective.
Additional web links on European Semester:
- Memo on the European Semester Autumn Package;
- Alert Mechanism Report 2019;
- Euro area recommendation 2019;
- Draft Joint Employment Report 2019;
- Communication on the 2019 Draft Budgetary Plans of the euro area;
- Autumn 2018 Economic Forecast.