European Council endorsed Annual Growth Survey 2012 priorities

The European Semester was kicked off by the Annual Growth Survey 2012 (AGS) Brussels, 23.11.2011 COM(2011) 815 final VOL. 1/5 (and the four annexes, Volumes 2-5).


EUCO conclusions

The conclusions of the spring European Council (EUCO) were brief and general in the fourth cornerstone paragraph:

4. For 2012, the European Council endorses the five priorities set out in the Commission's Annual Growth Survey for action taken at the EU and national level to:

– pursue differentiated, growth-friendly, fiscal consolidation,
– restore normal lending to the economy,
– promote growth and competitiveness,
– tackle unemployment and the social consequences of the crisis, and
– modernise public administration.

Synthesis report

When the European Council conclusions endorse the priorities proposed by the Commission, there is - if not a whole mountain - at least a molehill of views and conclusions behind each paragraph to inspire more detailed future policy work.

The Danish presidency prepared a shortcut: Implementation of the European Semester - Synthesis report (22 February 2012, Council document 6662/12).

However, the Synthesis report did not offer links to the various documents. Some readers may need to revisit the original and more detailed contributions submitted to the spring European Council, in order to find out what the five priorities set out in the Commission's Annual Growth Survey (AGS) and its annexes actually mean and require in the form of action.



Ralf Grahn
speaker on EU affairs, especially digital policy and law

P.S. Between the global issues and the national level, with a tenuous hold on democracy, the European Union institutions and the eurozone coteries shape our future. At the same time we see a European online public sphere emerging. Grahnlaw (recently ranked fourth among political blogs in Finland), Grahnblawg (in Swedish) and Eurooppaoikeus (meaning European Law, in Finnish) are among the more than 900 euroblogs aggregated by multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. Are you following the debates which matter for your future? Is your blog already listed on Bloggingportal?