European Stability Mechanism (ESM) in media

After 'Commenting on European Council: Economic policy', we turn to the permanent bailout system adopted by the spring summit 24 and 25 March 2011.


European Stability Mechanism (ESM)

The new eurozone stability mechanism ESM got a mixed reception in Germany, Reuters Detuschland tells us: Lob und Tadel in Deutschland für Euro-Paket (25 March 2011).

With regard to last minute changes to the new European Stability Mechanism, intended to protect the euro currency from speculation beginning in 2013, as well as other issues, Spiegel Online International presented both the German reasons and European irritation: European Leaders Agree to Euro Rescue Program (25 March 2011).

EurActiv reported on the negotiations leading to the EU's permanent bail-out fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM): EU leaders thrash out deal on permanent euro shield (latest update 28 March 2011)

According to Irwin Stelzer in The Wall Street Journal, ”the euro-zone summiteers seem to have concluded that if at first you don't succeed, continue making the same mistake.” The basic problem is the lack of competitiveness of the southern-tier countries; in: New ESM Won't Solve Euro-zone Woes (28 March 2011).

Adopting the Euro Plus Pact may have been the easy part, implementing it and especially achieving growth are the real tests. An article in the English section of Presseurop about the Europact discusses reactions in different Central European countries: What's in it for Eastern Europe? (28 March 2011).

According to Charles Forelle on the WSJ Real Time Brussels blog, Standard & Poor's downgraded credit ratings reflect nervousness about the new European Stability Mechanism: Greece, Portugal Cut. Thanks ESM! (29 March 2011).

The French Toute l'Europe ran its own European press review yesterday, including links to news and opinion in five languages: Revue de presse : Un pacte, oui mais pour qui ? (29 March 2011).



Ralf Grahn



P.S. On the collective quality blog Europe – 27 etc ”Jamel de L'or” presents a selection of ten ”must read” media in French on European affairs: Médias : Comment s'informer, en français, sur l'actualité européenne ? Highly recommended.

Euro Plus Pact in the media II

We continue our European media round-up with the second part concerning the Euro Plus Pact, confirmed by the spring European Council 24 to 25 March 2011.

The political Left is in opposition in much of Europe, and more apt to remember the stimulus part of Keynesian thinking, so we let the blog of Patrick Le Hyaric represent much Left and labour union rhetoric (in French): Pacte pour l'euro, un pacte diabolique (23 March 2011).

Tough language, but vague at the edges, was how RTBF.be described the Euro Plus Pact: Europe: le ”pacte pour l'euro plus”, nouvelle politique de compétitivité aux contours flous (25 March 2011)

Alberto Tuzi discusses the Euro Plus Pact and other economic policy decisions on the Tor Vergata blog (in Italian): Non solo politica al Consiglio europeo di primavera:nouve importanti decisioni sulla governance economica (28 March 2011).

Six non-eurozone countries, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia are joining the Europact, now called the Euro Plus Pact. This leaves just four EU member states outside: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The interesting EurActiv news report included reasons expressed by country leaders, but the article mistakenly said that Sweden is under no legal obligation to join the eurozone: 'Euro-plus pact' divides non-eurozone members (latest update 28 March 2011).

EUobserver tells us that the annual Euro Plus Pact summits will take place as the same time as the (economic) spring summits of the European Council. The eurozone summit will take place without the four outsiders (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom): Annual euro-pact summits will see refuseniks asked to leave the room (29 March 2011).

Sweden remains outside the Euro Plus Pact, but the defence of the nation state has not changed much between the Swedish political leaders Ingvar Carlsson and Fredirk Reinfeldt, twenty years apart. Ylva Nilsson writes on EU-merabloggen (in Swedish): Euro plus... minus Sverige (25 March 2011).



Ralf Grahn

Euro Plus Pact in the media I

How have blogs and other media received the economic policy guidelines and decisions adopted by the European Council spring meeting? Have they been as impressed as some political leaders by their own feats?


European Council recap

We started with the 'Spring European Council summary' on Grahnlaw, then continued with more general reflections in Swedish on Grahnblawg 'Europeiska rådets slutsatser: Konsensus och ogenomskinlighet' and 'Europeiska rådet: Status och slutsatser på 23 språk'.

Yesterday, on Grahnlaw Suomi Finland we looked at the spring meeting of the European Council through blog reactions. Although the entry is in Swedish, the links lead to the posts in the original languages: Europeiska rådet om ekonomin i Europabloggar one, two and three.


Primary source

The conclusions remain the primary source:

European Council 24/25 March 2011: Conclusions; Brussels, 25 March 2011 (EUCO 10/11; 34 pages)


No false modesty from the European Council when it started its conclusions about economic policy by proclaiming (paragraph 1, on page 2):

The European Council today adopted a comprehensive package of measures to respond to the crisis, preserve financial stability and lay the ground for smart, sustainable, socially inclusive and job-creating growth. This will strengthen the economic governance and competitiveness of the euro area and of the European Union.

After the meeting, Commission president José Manuel Durão Barroso waxed lyrical about the 'historic' conclusions, but he also offered a brief overview of the decisions taken (SPEECH/11/216).


Euro Plus Pact

One of the novelties was the Euro Plus Pact, which joins 17 eurozone countries with six still outside the euro area. Let us continue by looking at interesting posts on Euroblogs, while including other media in the round-up.

If political leaders were awe-struck by their feats, were other commentators as impressed?

Eva en Europa reminds us of the various stages on the road towards the final adoption of the Euro Plus Pact. The Pact is based on enduring self-interest more than on European ideals (in Spanish): Je t'aime ...Moi non plus (25 March 2011).

The Blog de Luis Casas Luengos dissects the Europact critically, as a denial of the systemic nature of the euro crisis: Pacto del euro: felíz año 2006 (28 March 2011).

Andrew Watt on the Social Europe Journal blog notes that the Euro Plus Pact and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) provide more effective and timely financial support in exchange for greater European integration of economic policymaking. However, the Pact is not a path out of the crisis: The euro plus pact – a plus but not a solution (28 March 2011)




Ralf Grahn

Spring European Council summary

Following the two days of the European Council meeting, we look at the materials on offer to those who want to know more.


First day summary

After the first day, 24 March 2011, the European Council communicated 'A collective guarantee of eurozone stability', which announced agreement on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which will replace the temporary European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), as well as the conclusion of the Euro Plus Pact, which will be joined by Poland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia.


EUCO summary page

The official summary of the spring European Council 24 to 25 March 2011 is on offer on the web page 'Deal on reinforced economic governance'.

With regard to the economic policy issues, the web page presents the following brief overview, with a few seemingly helpful links to more detailed sources:

Economy

As part of the governance package, the summit finalised the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), a permanent fund which in 2013 will replace the temporary one to support eurozone countries in the event of major economic difficulties. It also adopted the Euro Plus Pact, which will step up economic coordination with the aim of improving competitiveness. In addition to the eurozone countries, Bulgaria, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania have decided to participate in the Pact, which remains open for other EU member states to join.

Within the new framework of the European Semester, a six-month period during which member states' economic and budgetary policies are monitored in parallel, the European Council endorsed the priorities for fiscal consolidation and structural reform. All member states will translate these priorities into concrete measures to be included in their Stability or Convergence Programmes and National Reform Programmes.

European Council conclusions

The web page links to the conclusions of the spring European Council in English:

European Council: Conclusions 24/25 March 2011; Brussels, 25 March 2011 (EUCO 10/11; 34 pages)

However, the European Council conclusions are available in all 23 official EU languages.

Page 1 offers a brief introduction to the economic (and other) issues:

Over the last months, Europe has gone through a serious financial crisis. Although economic recovery in Europe is now on track, risks remain and we must continue our determined action. We adopted today a comprehensive package of measures which should allow us to turn the corner of the financial crisis and continue our path towards sustainable growth. This package will strengthen the economic governance of the European Union and ensure the lasting stability of the euro area as a whole. We also agreed robust action at the EU level to stimulate growth by strengthening the Single Market, reducing the overall burden of regulation and promoting trade with third countries.

European Stability Mechanism (ESM) etc.

If we return to the summary page, the link concerning the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) takes us back to the general conclusions of the European Council.

So does the link for the Euro Plus Pact.

Likewise for the link about the European Semester.

In other words, after the end of the second day these links offer us nothing beyond the official conclusions of the European Council. They have become redundant.

The same goes for some other links on the home page of the European Council.



Ralf Grahn

European Council blogging (24032011)

Ahead of the European Council on economic governance, growth and jobs, on 24 and 25 March 2011, I have written a number of posts on my blogs, Grahnlaw (EN), Grahnblawg (SV), Eurooppaoikeus (FI) and Grahnlaw Suomi Finland (EN, FI, SV).

Here are the four previous collections of blog entries.

Energy and employment dominated the batch on Grahnlaw: Baker's dozen of Grahnlaw & Co. on EU affairs (8 March 2011)

Growth reforms in line with the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) were at the centre of the following roundup on Grahnblawg: EU-ekonomi: Tillväxt och sysselsättning på Grahnlaw & Co (12 March 2011)

With the surrounding text in Finnish, but the blog post headlines in the original languages, the next collection of posts was presented Eurooppaoikeus, under the headline: EU2020 (16032011).

The EU2020 strategy, the European Semester, the pact for the euro and the positions of Sweden and Finland were among the themes of the blog entries collected on Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Blogging ahead of European Council (22032011).


Latest posts

Since the collections, some individual blog posts have been published.

Eurooppaoikeus: Talousuudistukset Eurooppa-neuvostoon (23 March 2011)

Eurooppaoikeus: Uudistajat kannustavat Eurooppa-neuvostoa (23 March 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Ruotsi ei osallistu euroa koskevaan sopimukseen (23 March 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Tanska osallistuu euroa koskevaan sopimukseen (23 March 2011)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Unkari ei osallistu euroa koskevaan sopimukseen (23 March 2011)


Openness and closeness

This blog post took a look at the advance materials available from the European Council (in Finnish, but select the language you prefer or use Google translation):

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Eurooppa-neuvosto 24. ja 25. maaliskuuta 2011: Avoimuus ja läheisyys? (24 March 2011)


The previous post

Grahnlaw: EU Tripartite Social Summit (24 March 2011)


***

Far from all issues of economic policy at the European Council spring meeting have been covered by the blog posts, but compare them with the advance information we have from the EU institutions: the preparatory General Affairs Council (GAC) and the European Council itself.



Ralf Grahn

EU Tripartite Social Summit 24 March 2011

Today, just before the European Council, the European social partners are meeting the representatives of the European Union (European Council, Commission, Hungarian presidency of the Council) for the dialogue known as the Tripartite Social Summit.

The Council secretariat published some generalities ahead of the meeting, but at least they express the modernising spirit of the Treaty:

Background: Tripartite Social Summit 24 March 2011 (2 pages)


Industrial relations

One aspect, the relationship between employers and employees and their representatives, is presented in much more detail in the freshly published 'Industrial Relations in Europe 2010' report (232 pages), downloadable from this page of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.


Businesseurope

Businesseurope's 'Message to the EU Council (sic!) meeting on 25-25 March 2011' is supportive of the main proposals on the table of the European Council, but is afraid of the lack of ambition and pace of renewal in many of the member states of the European Union.

Businesseurope wants to see progress in seven broad policy fields described as urgent priorities, and it wishes for the EU institutions to deliver reforms to enhance competitiveness.


ETUC

In Brussels and elsewhere, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) arranges demonstrations and protests against the economic governance proposals being discussed:

European Council: the ETUC is opposed to European Economic Governance that would jeopardise wages and social rights (23 March 2011)



Ralf Grahn

EU General Affairs Council: Feeding the cuckoos?

Have you ever followed the hectic life of small birds, unwittingly having become foster parents for a gluttonous young cuckoo?

Hectic and unrewarding, the life of these unsung heroes.

How about having two of these rapacious strangers, instead of only one, as in nature?

Why do I think about the thankless task of these desperate and overworked foster parents, when I turn to the visible output from the General Affairs Council of the European Union?


More than foreign affairs

Although the European Union is much, much more than foreign affairs, the coordinating General Affairs Council (GAC) is still dominated by foreign ministers, for whom it is a sideshow.

At the same time, the foreign ministers face the enormous challenge to shape the European Union into an effictive and influential actor in world affairs, in all fields of external action. Enough of a challenge to keep the foreign ministers busy for a decade or more, I would think, even if they concentrated on this main job.


GAC role

Currently the GAC does not fulfil the expectations created by the Lisbon Treaty, which gave it a permanent and important treaty based position.

The GAC was entrusted with the vital role to coordinate Council work (other configurations). It is also the task of the General Affairs Council to prepare and to ensure the follow-up of the European Council.

The bulk of real EU powers and resources concerns about two dozen policy areas of internal action, so the challenge looks daunting enough, but consistency has been left to the foreign policy divas, as a diversion.

In addition, the spring European Council is supposed to be the crowning moment for economic governance and economic reforms for growth and employment, guiding the work towards Europe 2020 (EU2020) goals.


Treaty aims vs delivery

The principles of as much openess as possible and as much closeness to the citizen as possible are laid down in Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union.

The enhanced role and tasks of the GAC were established by Article 16(6) TEU.

Article 16(6) TEU finally separated the GAC from its then dominant Siamese twin, the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC).

In the name of openness and closeness, the GAC could and should become an important stage in public discourse just ahead of the European Council (as well as after), but what has happened?

Make your own assessment of how the aims and potential have come to fruition. Reflect on the gap between expectations, potential and delivery:

3079th Council meeting General Affairs; Brussels, 21 March 2011 (Council document 7932/11)


Concrete conclusions

Instead of reasoned proposals and supporting materials, we get these inane ”conclusions”, with regard to the issues on the agenda of the European Council:

The Council took stock of the humanitarian situation in Libya and neighbouring countries.

The Council took stock of the EU's response to the humanitarian crisis in Japan.

The Council examined draft conclusions for the European Council meeting to be held on 24 and 25 March.

This is parody, pure and simple.

The rest of the text concerning economic policy is in essence an agenda, since it presents only the issues to be dealt with at the European Council (page 8-9).

The only redeeming feature would have been the report from the presidency on progress in implementation of the European Semester submitted to the European Council (doc. 7745/11), if the link in the original had actually worked.

If the GAC actually said something worthwhile, its tasks would be a bit more rewarding than feeding the cuckoos.


European Semester: implementation

Going back, the document reference is useful, though. If we substitute the broken link by Council search, we find the presidency report in 22 official EU languages, including English:

Implementation of the European Semester - Synthesis report; Brussels, 16 March 2011 (document 7745/11; 21 pages)



Ralf Grahn



P.S. The web pages of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union are one of the important sources of day to day information about EU events, including ones less visible than formal Council meetings.

The real Europe 2020 summit?

In a few days, the political leaders of the EU member states meet to assess progress towards the strategic economic goals of the European Union and to inspire improved performance on the reform trail.

This is the first spring European Council during the European Semester and the Europe 2020 strategy. The new policy cycle was kicked off by the Annual Growth Survey (AGS), which summarises ten priority actions discussed in more detail in various reports and Council conclusions.

In addition to improving macro-economic coordination, an important part of the European Council 24 to 25 March 2011 challenge relates to the Europe 2020 Strategy (EU2020), the EU's growth strategy for this decade.

Not only should there be economic growth, but the European Union should enjoy the rewards of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.


Lisbon Council

Ahead of the real summit for growth and jobs, the think tank The Lisbon Council arranged a timely high level seminar called The Europe 2020 Summit.


José Manuel Barroso

Yesterday I discussed the keynote address by José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, in a post on Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Europe 2020: Pipe dream or saviour of the decade?


An Action Plan for Europe 2020

The conference saw the publication of an interesting Lisbon Council policy brief 'An Action Plan for Europe 2020: Strategic Advice for the Post-Crisis World' (32 pages), with contributions by twelve authors.

By offering one short(ened) quote per contributor, I hope to whet your appetite for the whole of the publication.

Ann Mettler: At some point, Europe has to do what it purportedly set out to do.

Wim Kok: We have always known that implementation was Europe's weak spot, so the question of enforcement is key.

Andreas Schleicher: Countries need to improve their skill base throughout the population and capitalise on the full potential of all individuals.

Enrico Giovanni: For an ambitious, all-encompassing strategy like Europe 2020, indicators must be as close to people as possible, as widely disseminated as possible, as shared by stakeholders as possible, and as well and regularly used by media as possible to make them central in the public discourse.

Martin Schuurmans: Entrepreneurship (combined with higher education) and better understanding of customers, markets and sales channels are the key drivers of innovation.

Alessandro Leipold: This broad strategy has been narrowed down in the Commission's Annual Growth Survey into 10 priority actions, endorsed by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council a month ago. The primary concern now must be to give these actions teeth and see to their full implementation.

Harry Verhaar: Today, as we tackle the triple challenge of dwindling global resources (energy, raw materials, water and food), sustainability and climate change, the direction we need to go is crystal clear, but the momentum is just too weak. We are simply not getting to the solutions quickly enough.

Geoff Mulgan: As the Innovation Union strategy recognised, for Europe to thrive, innovation has to be cultivated in every field.

Žiga Turk: Today, Europe does not have a single company among the top 20 in BusinessWeek's Tech 100 list. Europe's failure to be competitive in the ICT sector is just a symptom. The causes are deeper.

Mark Spelman: Ageing, resource constraint and new technologies are three examples of underexploited potential growth sectors.

Sören Stamer: Europe tends to optimise existing structures, while Silicon Valley has a greater appetite for radical change.

Parag Khanna: European leaders cannot let internal economic obstacles overcome the imperative of building a long-term basis for growth and inlfuence on the world stage.


Real summit?

Practically every contributor offers policy recommendations worth consideration and more: implementation.

If the European Council is not up to that, perhaps the Lisbon Council conference was the real EU2020 summit after all.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Today's Grahnlaw recommendation is one of my favourite French blogs on legal and political issues: Diner's room, by Jules.

EU2020 strategy: European Parliament feels abandoned

On 17 February 2011 the European Parliament adopted a resolution 'Europe 2020' (P7_TA(2011)0068), which had been tabled by the EPP, S&D, ALDE, Greens/ALE and ECR groups.

In the larger context of the the Commission communication 'Europe 2020' and the European Council conclusions adopting the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, the resolution homed in on the first 'Annual Growth Survey' from the European Commission.

Why?


Weak governance

After the lost decade of the Lisbon strategy it is hardly surprising that trust in intergovernmental policy coordination (and the heads of state or government) is low.

Discussions in the Council, the eurozone and the European Council to strengthen fiscal responsibility and to promote economic reform have tended to bring forward pacts and solutions even more intergovernmental in nature and origin.

Given the objective background and its own interests as a corporation, the European Parliament pointed towards the clay feet of the EU2020 strategy and called for strengthening of the foundations:

Governance of the Europe 2020 Strategy should be strengthened

1.  Underlines that the Europe 2020 actions are of crucial importance to the future prospects of all European citizens, delivering sustainable jobs, long-term economic growth, and social progress; fears that the Europe 2020 strategy will not be able to deliver on its promises due to its weak governance structure, and strongly urges the Council, therefore, to strengthen the Community method; reiterates the importance of integrating the EU 2020 goals into the economic governance framework and calls for the European Semester to be part of the legislative governance package, while including national parliaments and social partners at an early stage in order to foster democratic accountability, ownership and legitimacy; stresses that the achievement of Europe 2020 is essential and not optional;

2.  Considers the Annual Growth Survey and the framework of the European Semester as crucial tools for an enhanced coordination of economic policies; stresses, however, that they should not replace nor diminish the importance of the existing tools provided by the Treaty, in particular the broad economic policy guidelines and employment guidelines of Member States, in which Parliament is strongly involved and consulted; underlines the need for consistency with the achievement of the five headline targets for the Europe 2020 strategy agreed by the European Council and Commission with a view to ensuring its success;

Annual Growth Survey (AGS)

From the beginning of 2011, Europe 2020 policy co-ordination takes place in the framework of the European Semester. The first manifestation of the new planning tool was the Annual Growth Survey (AGS), which presents the economic policy challenges in a nutshell:

Annual Growth Survey: advancing the EU's comprehensive response to the crisis; Brussels, 12.1.2010 COM(2011) 11 final (10 pages)

On substance, the call from the Commission is clear (page 3):

To avoid stagnation, unsustainable debt trends, accumulated imbalances and ensure its competitiveness, Europe needs to accelerate the consolidation of its public finances, the reform of its financial sector and to frontload structural reforms now.

The communication from the Commission sets out ten priority actions. The AGS is the ”catechism” of the economic policy and reform discussion in the European Union right now.

However, it seems to speak exclusively at or with the heads of state or government (European Council), even if the Annual Growth Survey ”is also transmitted to the European Parliament and to the other Institutions and national parliaments”.

Is this a winning formula for the EU2020 strategy where the Lisbon strategy failed?



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Global in scope, Conflict of Laws .net is a news and discussion portal to those interested in the conflict of laws (aka private international law).

Europe 2020 strategy: Regions challenge central governments

The regional and local authorities challenge the central governments of the member states of the European Union by demanding equal partnerships and ”territorial pacts” when the National Reform Programmes (NPR) are devised and implemented, in order to achieve the headline targets of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs.


Committee of the Regions (CoR)

The Committee of the Regions (CoR), the EU advisory body representing regional and local powers, wants to engage all levels of government on an equal footing through ”territorial pacts” when putting the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) into practice:

Europe 2020 strategy and territorial pacts: the Hungarian presidency visits the CoR (31 January 2011, press release COR/11/12)

The CoR has reiterated its demand in a letter addressed to the European Council (in French): Déclaration du Bureau Comité des régions adressée au Conseil européen de printemps 2011 (4 March 2011).

The essential EU2020 claims aare found in paragraphs 3 and 4:

3. À cette fin, le Comité des régions insiste sur la nécessité d'exiger un partenariat à multiniveaux entre pouvoirs européen, centraux, régionaux et locaux afin de renforcer l'appropriation de la stratégie Europe 2020. Nous demandons donc que les programmes nationaux de réforme soient conçus et mis en œuvre en partenariat entre les différents échelons de gouvernement, et fassent référence à la création de pactes territoriaux pour la stratégie Europe 2020, qui pourraient être mis en œuvre dans chaque État membre conformément au cadre juridique national.

4. Étant donné que le Parlement européen soutient aussi officiellement les pactes territoriaux de la stratégie Europe 2020, nous proposons que les conclusions du sommet européen de printemps fassent référence à cette proposition dans les recommandations sur la version finale et la mise en œuvre des programmes nationaux de réforme des 27 États membres.

European Commission

Commission president José Manuel Barroso supported the push by the CoR for territorial pacts:

02.12.2010 - "I need you to push member states on territorial pacts",Commission President Barroso tells CoR plenary


European Parliament

The issue has been brewing in the EU institutions for some time. Even if cohesion policy was the main theme of the resolution P7_TA(2010)0468 of 14 December 2010 on 'Good governance and EU regional policy' of the European Parliament, the EP came out in support of a ‘Territorial Pact of Local and Regional Authorities for Europe 2020’:

16.  Calls for the multi-level governance principle to be integrated into all phases of design and implementation of the EU2020 Strategy to ensure real ownership of the results by the regional and local authorities, which have to implement it; highlights in this connection the proposal for a ‘Territorial Pact of Local and Regional Authorities for Europe 2020’ to encourage regions and cities to contribute to the successful achievement of the objectives of the 2020 Strategy;

EU Council and European Council

This leaves the Council of the European Union and the European Council, both dominated by representatives of the (central) state governments.

How are they going to react?

Has anyone seen any clear responses from these intergovernmental EU institutions yet?



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Does any other EU member state have a system equal to or better than the integrated solution of the Danish parliament (Folketinget), where you find EU-Oplysningen (the EU Information Centre) and Folketingets Europaudvalg (the European Affairs Committee of the Folketing), including EU and government documents scrutinised, all in one place? How about the quality of information ahead of EU Council meetings? (Some information and links are available in English.)

EU Joint Employment Report (JER) heading for spring summit

Ahead of the EU's economic and social summit, the European Council 24 and 25 March 2011, we return to the EPSCO Council, where ministers for employment and social affairs adopted the following general conclusions:

3073rd Council meeting Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs: Employment and Social Policy; Brussels, 7 March 2011 (Council document 7360/11; 20 pages)


EPSCO on employment

On page 9 of the general conclusions the EPSCO Council put the Joint Employment Report (JER) into perspective, joint meaning Commission and Council:

The Council adopted the joint employment report (7396/11) along with the conclusions on it. The JER reviews the current employment situation in Europe and the implementation of the employment guidelines adopted in October 2010. This year, it is more forward-looking than in earlier years, additionally taking into account the early state of implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

The page summarises the main findings of the JER and the principal EPSCO greetings to the spring European Council.


Joint Employment Report (JER)

The Joint Employment Report is part of the first European Semester. It adds flesh to the bones of the Annual Growth Survey (AGS), during the run-up to the spring European Council.

The latest JER version (document 7396/11; dated 8 March 2001, as adopted by the EPSCO Council, is more detailed than the general conclusions (26 pages). (A short while ago, five language versions had appeared on the Council website.)

The pages 2 to 5 of the Joint Employment Report are dedicated to the main messages. Despite the economic jargon and the abundance of good causes, concrete measures in the EU member states can make a difference for firms and jobseekers.

One of the purposes of the JER is to provide guidance for the final versions of the National Reform Programmes (NPR), due in April 2011, which aim to put the Europe 2020 Strategy (EU2020) into practice in the EU member states.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. On the Bloggingportal.eu Blog, you can follow and participate in the second day of live blogging from the EU Competitiveness Council and tweeting under #Eupilot by @europasionaria and @ronpatz in the Justus Lipsius Building in Brussels.

EU EPSCO and Competitiveness Council: Annual Growth Survey is cornerstone

You can discuss with @ronpatz on Twitter under #Eupilot and follow him blogging live from the EU Competitiveness Council on the Bloggingportal.eu blog.

In order to structure our thinking I have posted two entries today on the Europe 2020 (#EU2020) themes being prepared for the economic and social summit, the European Council 24 to 25 March 2011.

The first post was about the central theme of the EPSCO Council on employment and social affairs, in: EU Council (EPSCO): EU2020 and March European Council. The second one offered a reminder about the new economic governance tool: EU EPSCO Council: Recalling the European semester.

If you look at the Background note on Competitiveness Council 9 to 10 March 2011, prepared by the Council secretariat, you will notice how crucial the first concrete manifestation of the European semester is, during both days: the Annual Growth Survey (AGS).

Thus, an introduction to help you put these things into perspective.


Annual Growth Survey (AGS)

Describing the new economic governance, the European Commission said that January 2011 launched the first European Semester of ex-ante policy co-ordination starting with this Annual Growth Survey which is anchored in the Europe 2020 strategy.

The Commission communication on the first Annual Growth Survey (AGS) was presented 12 January 2011, and it is available in 22 official EU languages. Here is a link to the English language version:

Annual Growth Survey: advancing the EU's comprehensive response to the crisis; Brussels, 12.1.2010 COM(2011) 11 final (10 pages)


Ten proposed actions

A more detailed analysis underpinning the Commission's assessment was set out in three reports that accompanied the Communication and included an assessment of the initial setting up of the Europe 2020 (EU2020) strategy at member state level.

In the first Annual Growth Survey the Commission set out ten actions for the EU in 2011/2012, anchored in the EU2020 strategy. Since the communication is clear and fairly brief exposition of EU reform plans for the economy and employment, it is worth reading.

Key challenges

To refresh your memory, here are the main headlines and the ten proposed actions, based on the Commission's evaluation of the economic challenges the EU should address and with its main recommendations to the member states:

I. MACRO-ECONOMIC PRE-REQUISITES FOR GROWTH
1. Implementing a rigorous fiscal consolidation
2. Correcting macro economic imbalances
3. Ensuring stability of the financial sector

II. MOBILISING LABOUR MARKETS, CREATING JOB OPPORTUNITIES
4. Making work more attractive
5. Reforming pensions systems
6. Getting the unemployed back to work
7. Balancing security and flexibility

III. FRONTLOADING GROWTH –ENHANCING MEASURES
8. Tapping the potential of the Single Market
9. Attracting private capital to finance growth
10. Creating cost-effective access to energy


For an overview you can access the web page of DG Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN) titled 'Commission publishes Annual Growth Survey', with links to the communication mentioned above, as well as press releases and speeches, not to forget the annexed reports I missed at an earlier stage when I searched the Council website:

AGS Annex 1: Progress report on Europe 2020 (16 pages)

AGS Annex 2: Macroeconomic report (23 pages)

AGS Annex 3: Draft Joint Employment Report (13 pages)



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Did you know that the posts of 774 Euroblogs are already aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu?

EU Council (EPSCO): EU2020 and March European Council

How did the ministers for employment and social affairs in the EPSCO Council prepare the upcoming spring meeting of the European Council 24 to 25 March?

Here is a brief description of the subject matter (page 7):

The Council held a policy debate on issues relevant to the annual growth survey (AGS) and to the European Semester, namely the joint employment report (JER) and guidelines for the employment policies of the member states, and on items linked to the Europe 2020 strategy, i.e. the ”European platform against poverty and social exclusion” and the main messages of the report on the social dimension of the strategy. The results of this debate and the joint employment report are to be submitted to the European Council 24/25 March as part of EPSCO's Council contribution.

If you continue reading the conclusions of the EPSCO Council configuration, the summary of the debate on the introductory pages 7-8 starts with a few commonplaces, in:

3073rd Council meeting Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs: Employment and Social Policy; Brussels, 7 March 2011 (Council document 7360/11; 20 pages)

Later the issues are treated one by one, among them:

Joint Employment Report (JER) - conclusions
Guidelines for the employment policies of the member states
European platform against poverty and social exclusion – conclusions
Social dimension of the Europe 2020 strategy
Preparation of the tripartite Social Summit

Look for(ward to) separate posts.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. Regardless if you side with the copyright (intellectual property rights) owners or the business and citizen users, Christian Engström, Pirate MEP is a Euroblog worth following, in English and Swedish.

Baker's dozen of Grahnlaw & Co. on EU affairs

As a fan of the Crustum bakery and cafeterias in Helsinki, here is a baker's dozen to offer you the latest entries on my three unilingual (EN, FI, SV) blogs and the trilingual one, at a glance:

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU2020-strategia: Energia 2020

Grahnlaw: EU Council (TTE) more open and transparent (Will it last?)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energy for Europe

Grahnblawg: Energi i EU: Sverige informerar

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Förny(else)bar energi i Europeiska unionen

Grahnlaw: EU third energy package into force

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) inaugurated

Grahnlaw: Renewable energy materials: EU progress towards 2020 target

Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n työllisyys ja sosiaalipolitiikka: Suomi tiedotti (EPSCO)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU:n työllisyys ja sosiaalipolitiikka: Neuvosto tiedotti (EPSCO)

Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n työllisyys ja sosiaalipolitiikka: Unkari tiedotti (EPSCO)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU:n työllisyys ja sosiaalipolitiikka: Ruotsi tiedotti (EPSCO)

Grahnlaw: PM Reinfeldt on Sweden in the EU



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Are you interested in European values? How about the economy, business, politics, policies or law in the EU?

Civilised blog comments relevant to the topic are welcome on my blogs.

The multilingual comment policy means that you can write in one of the following languages: ES DA DE EN FR IT NL PT FI SV NO (even if my possible replies are in English, Finnish or Swedish depending on the blog and the post).

You can also find me on Twitter @RalfGrahn and Facebook.

PM Reinfeldt on Sweden in the EU

Here is just a quick post for those who may be interested in Sweden in the European Union, but may be unaware of the existence of the prime minister's speech and of the English version of it.

Today, the prime minister of Sweden, Fredrik Reinfeldt, outlined his country's late and cautious road to European integration, as well as the Swedish government's view of the challenges facing the union. These were the central reform themes for the future, according to Reinfeldt:

- how can the EU increase its economic growth, employment rate and competitiveness?
- how can the EU combat climate change?
- how can the EU promote and safeguard people's mobility across borders?
- how can the EU modernise its budget?
- how can the EU be a strong foreign policy actor that champions the values on which European cooperation is based?

The most obvious of these challenges lies in Europe's economic situation.

As the leader of one of the most successful EU member states, Reinfeldt speaks with some authority.



Ralf Grahn

Renewable energy materials: EU progress towards 2020 target

When the European Commission published its report on progress towards the 2020 target for renewable energy, it invited Member States to:

• implement the National Renewable Energy Action Plans;

• streamline infrastructure planning regimes while respecting existing EU environmental legislation and strive to conform to best practice;

• make faster progress in developing the electricity grid to balance higher shares of renewable energy;

• develop cooperation mechanisms and start integrating renewable energy into the European market;

• ensure that any reforms of existing national support schemes will guarantee the stability for investors, avoiding retroactive changes.

This blog post is a compilation of available materials from the Commission.


European Commission press releases

In customary manner, the European Commission presented two press releases on 31 January 2011 regarding the report about renewable energy, one with a brief overview (IP) and another one with some background (MEMO):

Renewable Energy Targets: Commission calls on Member States to boost cooperation (IP/11/113; published in English, French and German, the Commission working languages)

Commission Communication on renewable energy (MEMO/11/54; published only in English)


Communication COM(2011) 31

The centrepiece is the communication from the Commission:

Renewable Energy: Progressing towards the 2020 target; Brussels, 31.1.2011 COM(2011) 31 final (15 pages)

The communication on renewable energy is available through the legal portal Eur-Lex in 22 official EU languages.


Accompanying documents

The accompanying documents from the Commission staff are of interest to energy specialists:

Report on the operation of the mass balance verification method for the biofuels and bioliquids sustainability scheme in accordance with Article 18(2) of Directive 2009/28/EC; Brussels, 31.1.2011 SEC(2011) 129 final (in English only)

Recent progress in developing renewable energy sources and technical evaluation of the use of biofuels and other renewable fuels in transport in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 2001/77/EC and Article 4(2) of Directive 2003/30/EC; Brussels, 31.1.2011 SEC(2011) 130 final (In the absence of a bibliographic notice, we only know that there is this English version)

Review of European and national financing of renewable energy in accordance with Article 23(7) of Directive 2009/28/EC; Brussels, 31.1.2011 SEC(2011) 131 final (only in English)


Latest: Energy ministers

From the meeting of the energy ministers in the TTE Council 28 February 2011 we know the following:

Renewable energy - progressing towards the 2020 target

The Commission briefed ministers on the progress made towards the 2020 target for renewable energy and presented its communicaiton adopted in January (5965/11)

[link in the original]

Source: TTE conclusions, page 11, in:

3072nd Council meeting Transport, Telecommunications and Energy: ENERGY; Brussels, 28 February 2011 (Council document 6950/11)



Ralf Grahn


P.S. Do you want to explore the world of Euroblogs? One place to start are the Fleishman-Hillard Netvibes pages, which have categories for noteworthy journalists, citizens, EUofficials, Commissioners, MEPs, corporate and collective blogging about EU affairs, as well as the FH selection of ten must-read Euroblogs.


P.S. 2: To help you get an overview of my three unilingual blogs (EN, FI, SV) and one trilingual one, here are links to my ten latest entries:


Grahnblawg: EU: Information och energi inför TTE-rådet

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energin inför EU:s vårtoppmöte om ekonomi och näringsliv

Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n energian tukkumarkkinoiden säätely: Paremmin ja avoimemmin

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU2020-strategia: Energia 2020

Grahnlaw: EU Council (TTE) more open and transparent (Will it last?)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energy for Europe

Grahnblawg: Energi i EU: Sverige informerar

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Förny(else)bar energi i Europeiska unionen

Grahnlaw: EU third energy package into force

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) inaugurated


Are you interested in European values? How about the economy, business, politics, policies or law in the EU? Civilised blog comments relevant to the topic are welcome on Grahnlaw and the multilingual comment policy means that you can write in one of the following European languages: ES DA DE EN FR IT NL PT FI SV NO (even if my possible replies are in English). You can also find me on Twitter @RalfGrahn and Facebook.

EU third energy package into force

Are you worried about the relentless rise of your electricity or gas bill?

This week the European Union took one step towards markets intended to improve service and value for money for industry users and consumers.

Thursday, 3 March 2011 was the deadline for the EU member states to transpose the two directives of the third legislative package for an internal gas and electricity market.

In this blog entry we try to find materials suited to the needs of the ordinary, non-expert citizen of the European Union. The economic reform agenda Europe 2020 (EU2020), the Energy 2020 strategy and progress towards internal market rules (and single market ideals) offer us a framework for thinking about energy issues.

The DG Energy of the European Commission makes judicious use of links to make the essentials of the third energy package fit one clear (but longish) web page 'Internal market – Electricity & Gas markets', including slides for a quick peek, official materials (directives and regulations), press releases and speeches. However, the page exists in English only, which is a severe limitation, when we look at all 500 million of them us.




Internal energy market

For the general reader, there is a link to an introductory web page 'Internal energy market', which offers a choice of links to about twenty different subject pages.

I want to highlight three of these updated energy introductions.

Edit 5 March 2011, about 9:40 EET:There are alternative language versions for the whole or parts of the pages with the summaries of EU legislation, among 11 "old" official languages.

The pages 'Internal market in gas (from March 2011)' and 'Internal market in electricity (from March 2011)' present the essentials of the new market rules in force in the European Union (and the rest of the European Economic Area).


ACER

The third page 'Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators' offers an overview of the new agency.

For some reason I did not see the acronym in use anywhere on the page, but the EU agency will become known as ACER.


Energy market questions and answers

An alternative route to the basic information about the third energy package and ACER is offered by the clearly written Commission MEMO/11/125: Questions and Answers on the third legislative package for an internal EU gas and electricity market (published 2 March 2011, only in English). The third energy package in summary:

The package consists of two Directives, one concerning common rules for the internal market in gas (2009/73/EC), one concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity 2009/72/EC) and three Regulations, one on conditions for access to the natural gas transmission networks ((EC) No 715/2009), one on conditions for access to the network for cross-border exchange of electricity ((EC) No 714/2009) and one on the establishment of the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators ACER ((EC) No 713/2009). They were adopted in July 2009.

Ralf Grahn


P.S. The Euroblog world keeps expanding. Multilingual Bloggingportal.eu now aggregates the posts of 772 blogs related to European affairs (European Union, Council of Europe). Keep up to date on Europe while improving your language skills for free.


P.S. 2: It is difficult to get an overview of three unilingual blogs (EN, FI, SV) and one trilingual one in constant movement, so here you have links to my ten latest entries:

Grahnlaw: From Libya to Brazil, interior goes international (EU Justice and Home Affairs Council)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU: Jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters (Brussels I revision)

Grahnblawg: EU: Information och energi inför TTE-rådet

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energin inför EU:s vårtoppmöte om ekonomi och näringsliv

Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n energian tukkumarkkinoiden säätely: Paremmin ja avoimemmin

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU2020-strategia: Energia 2020

Grahnlaw: EU Council (TTE) more open and transparent (Will it last?)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energy for Europe

Grahnblawg: Energi i EU: Sverige informerar

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Förny(else)bar energi i Europeiska unionen


Are you interested in European values? How about the EU and the economy, business, politics, policies or law? Blog comments are welcome in the main Western European languages, but find me on Twitter @RalfGrahn and Facebook as well.

EU Council (TTE) more open and transparent (Will it last?)

The advance information was lousy, but I was happy to notice that the Council of the European Union desisted from treating every bit of information about progress on the Europe 2020 growth strategy as a state secret when it communicated after the meeting.

Look at page 7 of the conclusions of the TTE Council, with regard to the draft regulation regarding energy market integrity and transparency:

3072nd Council meeting Transport, Telecommunications and Energy: ENERGY; Brussels, 28 February 2011 (Council document 6950/11; 18 pages)

We have not only references, but links to the relevant documents including a progress report, and an identified as well as retrievable latest version of the regulation text.

Handy links were used more generously than usually in other agenda items as well.

If this marks a new beginning, the European Union has taken a step closer to the openness (transparency) it has promised its citizens.

Hopefully it was more than a flash in the pan.



Ralf Grahn


 

P.S. In 'Le Dérèglement du monde' the writer Amin Maalouf speaks wisely about the challenges facing mankind, including us Europeans. One of the books every one of us should read.

(FI: already published: 'Maailma järkkyy'; EN: 'Disordered World'; USA publication promised 27 September 2011, UK publishing date 19 September 2011.)


P.S. 2: At a glance the ten latest entries on my three unilingual and one trilingual blog (EN, FI, SV):

Grahnlaw: EU General Affairs Council (GAC) communication: Wrong, stupid and a missed opportunity

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU cohesion policy conclusions reveal lack of transparency

Eurooppaoikeus: Mitä EU:n alue- ja rakennepolitiikasta puuttuu Suomessa?

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Yhteisvastuu Euroopan unionissa: Kysyntää riittää

Grahnlaw: From Libya to Brazil, interior goes international (EU Justice and Home Affairs Council)

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU: Jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters (Brussels I revision)

Grahnblawg: EU: Information och energi inför TTE-rådet

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: Energin inför EU:s vårtoppmöte om ekonomi och näringsliv

Eurooppaoikeus: EU:n energian tukkumarkkinoiden säätely: Paremmin ja avoimemmin

Grahnlaw Suomi Finland: EU2020-strategia: Energia 2020


Are you interested in European values or the economy, entrepreneuship, politics or law in the EU?In that case we could get acquainted through Twitter @RalfGrahn or Facebook.