The finance ministers of the Euro Group meet to ride the Greek rollercoaster on the slopes of the Apennines, well after markets open and close in Europe Monday, 7 November 2011.
Are we going to see solutions emerging in Greece and Italy ahead of the eurozone meeting and the full Ecofin Council on Tuesday?
The Annex to the Council background note offers a convenient one page summary of the ongoing work to alleviate the crisis in the eurozone (page 6). The overview would have been even better, had it linked to the relevant documents (although two documentary links about other items are provided in the preceding main text).
The documents of the Ecofin open sessions have not been updated (yet).
There are some gaps to fill. Observers of the European Union (eurozone) need the relevant documents, plus information about possible weekend developments in Greece and Italy.
For lively discussion about the eurozone challenges I recommend the multilingual aggregator of 873 euroblogs Bloggingportal.eu. You can read, comment and share.
Ralf Grahn
Showing posts with label background note. Show all posts
Showing posts with label background note. Show all posts
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Background note Europe 2020 strategy: Implementation matters (European Council 17 June 2010)
Exaggerating only slightly: One more decade like the last one and Europe can apply to UNESCO for world heritage status.
Today the European Council confirms the five headline targets of the Europe 2020 strategy for jobs and growth. The numerical indicators for the two remaining targets – education levels and social inclusion – will be agreed.
According to the Council’s background note, after finalising the Europe 2020 strategy, the European Council is due to start concentrating on implementation.
Credibility on the line
After the wasted ten years of the Lisbon strategy, the Europe 2020 strategy puts the credibility of the member states and the EU institutions on the line.
Putting (lofty) ambitions into effect is the crux of the matter.
Implementation makes or breaks the Europe 2020 strategy: the promising new jobs and the sweet sound of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Is there anything to convince us that failure will miraculously be followed by success?
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The Commission proposal is the first chain in the link. This is what we turn to in our next blog post.
Ralf Grahn
Today the European Council confirms the five headline targets of the Europe 2020 strategy for jobs and growth. The numerical indicators for the two remaining targets – education levels and social inclusion – will be agreed.
According to the Council’s background note, after finalising the Europe 2020 strategy, the European Council is due to start concentrating on implementation.
Credibility on the line
After the wasted ten years of the Lisbon strategy, the Europe 2020 strategy puts the credibility of the member states and the EU institutions on the line.
Putting (lofty) ambitions into effect is the crux of the matter.
Implementation makes or breaks the Europe 2020 strategy: the promising new jobs and the sweet sound of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Is there anything to convince us that failure will miraculously be followed by success?
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The Commission proposal is the first chain in the link. This is what we turn to in our next blog post.
Ralf Grahn
Note on European Council’s agenda and background note (17 June 2010)
Yesterday, the last day before the 17 June 2010 European Council, we were happy to announce the publication of the provisional agenda drafted by president Herman Van Rompuy (document EUCO 12/10), a background note from the Council’s press office and Van Rompuy’s invitation letter to the EU heads of state or government.
The road to prosperity or destitution for 500 million Europeans is expressed in a few brief words on one agenda item:
Council’s background note
The background note from the Council’s press office briefly describes the issues at hand:
Comment
The publication of the clearly written official background note from the European Council is a positive development.
However, no concrete proposals, detailed reasons or links to relevant documents are on offer.
This means that the European Council’s standards of governance and transparency still reflect its origins as an intimate fireside chat, not the role of the most important official institution of a union of half a billion people.
It seems necessary for media and active individuals to try to fill at least parts of the official communication near-vacuum, by producing their own background notes and in depth articles.
Ahead of the European Council, many of the Grahnlaw blog entries (headlines on the right) in June have looked at issues pertaining to the EU’s new economic strategy, but now there is only time to fill a few of the remaining gaps left by the official advance communication.
Ralf Grahn
The road to prosperity or destitution for 500 million Europeans is expressed in a few brief words on one agenda item:
3. A new European strategy for jobs and growth
- Finalising and implementing the Europe 2020 Strategy
- Enhancing economic governance
- Regulating financial markets
Council’s background note
The background note from the Council’s press office briefly describes the issues at hand:
A new European strategy for jobs and growth
The European Council is due to finalise Europe 2020, the EU's new strategy for jobs and smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and start concentrating on implementation.
The strategy will help Europe recover from the crisis and come out stronger, both internally and at the international level, by boosting competitiveness, productivity, growth potential, social cohesion and economic convergence. The new strategy responds to the challenge of reorienting policies away from crisis management towards the introduction of medium- to longer-term reforms that promote growth and ensure the sustainability of public finances.
The European Council is expected to confirm five EU headline targets which will constitute shared objectives guiding the action of Member States and the Union as regards
- the promotion of employment ;
- the improvement of the conditions for innovation, research and development;
- meeting of the EU’s climate change and energy objectives;
- the improvement of education levels; and
- the promotion of social inclusion, in particular through the reduction of poverty.
The European Council is expected to agree on the quantification of the education and social inclusion/poverty indicators and it will endorse the integrated guidelines for the economic and employment policies.
Member States will have to act to implement these policies at their level, as well as to identify the main bottlenecks to growth and indicate how they intend to tackle them in their National Reform Programmes.
The President of the Task Force on economic governance, Herman Van Rompuy, will present a progress report to the European Council. On this basis, the European Council will discuss its orientations on how to further enhance the coordination of Member States’ economic policies, in particular as regards budgetary and broader macroeconomic surveillance.
Finally the European Council is expected to set orientations for further work on strengthening the regulation and supervision of financial markets.
Comment
The publication of the clearly written official background note from the European Council is a positive development.
However, no concrete proposals, detailed reasons or links to relevant documents are on offer.
This means that the European Council’s standards of governance and transparency still reflect its origins as an intimate fireside chat, not the role of the most important official institution of a union of half a billion people.
It seems necessary for media and active individuals to try to fill at least parts of the official communication near-vacuum, by producing their own background notes and in depth articles.
Ahead of the European Council, many of the Grahnlaw blog entries (headlines on the right) in June have looked at issues pertaining to the EU’s new economic strategy, but now there is only time to fill a few of the remaining gaps left by the official advance communication.
Ralf Grahn
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
Europe 2020 strategy background note: Education and social inclusion at European Council 17 June 2010
The previous background blog post ahead of the June European Council referred to three of the headline targets of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs.
The Spring European Council 25 to 26 March fixed the headline targets for: employment; research and development (R&D); energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (document EUCO 7/10).
European Council 17 June 2010 aim
The European Council intends to finalise the Europe 2020 strategy at its meeting 17 June 2010. In particular, this entails setting the indicators and numerical targets concerning the fourth target, education, and the fifth target, social inclusion.
4 Education levels
According to the March European Council, two areas, education and social inclusion, required more preparatory work.
With regard to education levels, the Spring summit agreed to finalise the target in June (point 5(b), page 2):
Education ministers
The Council configuration Education, Youth and Culture on 10 to 11 May 2010 resulted in the following presidency conclusions (document 9456/10, page 11):
5 Social inclusion and poverty reduction
Regarding social inclusion and poverty reduction, the March European Council agreed to finalise the details of the headline goal in June (point 5(b), page 2):
EPSCO Council
The EPSCO Council (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) on 7 June 2010 adopted a social inclusion/poverty reduction target and indicators as a contribution to the European Council (document 10828/1/10 REV 1):
Comment
We have seen two Council formations trying to define improved indicators and numerical targets ahead of the European Council. It is hard for a lay reader to understand how they alter or refine the Commission’s proposal. They look like a communicator’s nightmare.
If Coreper, the GAC, president Herman Van Rompuy or the European Council do not improve on the texts, hopefully someone with communicative skills translates these latest proposals on the summit table into clear and engaging prose, if the European Council wants to (as it tells us) involve national parliaments, social partners, regions and other stakeholders, so as to increase ownership of the Europe 2020 strategy.
Ralf Grahn
The Spring European Council 25 to 26 March fixed the headline targets for: employment; research and development (R&D); energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (document EUCO 7/10).
European Council 17 June 2010 aim
The European Council intends to finalise the Europe 2020 strategy at its meeting 17 June 2010. In particular, this entails setting the indicators and numerical targets concerning the fourth target, education, and the fifth target, social inclusion.
4 Education levels
According to the March European Council, two areas, education and social inclusion, required more preparatory work.
With regard to education levels, the Spring summit agreed to finalise the target in June (point 5(b), page 2):
improving education levels, in particular by aiming to reduce school drop-out rates and by increasing the share of the population having completed tertiary or equivalent education; taking into account the Commission's proposal, the European Council will set the numerical rates of these targets in June 2010;
Education ministers
The Council configuration Education, Youth and Culture on 10 to 11 May 2010 resulted in the following presidency conclusions (document 9456/10, page 11):
"The Council agreed to propose to the European Council in June 2010 the numerical rates of the EU headline targets to improve education levels of the new strategy Europe 2020, building on the two corresponding levels of European average performance ("European benchmarks") approved in the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020), that is by 2020, the school drop-out rate should be less than 10% and the share of population having completed tertiary or equivalent education should be at least 40%.
In line with their responsibility for their education and training systems, the competence of the member states regarding the setting and implementation of quantitative national targets in the area of education and training is fully maintained. The principles and working methods agreed under the strategic framework for European cooperation in this field play their full role in monitoring progress towards the EU headline targets for education."
5 Social inclusion and poverty reduction
Regarding social inclusion and poverty reduction, the March European Council agreed to finalise the details of the headline goal in June (point 5(b), page 2):
promoting social inclusion, in particular through the reduction of poverty. Further work is needed on appropriate indicators. The European Council will revert to this issue at its June 2010 meeting.
EPSCO Council
The EPSCO Council (Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs) on 7 June 2010 adopted a social inclusion/poverty reduction target and indicators as a contribution to the European Council (document 10828/1/10 REV 1):
• that the quantified target of the Europe 2020 Strategy to promote social inclusion, in particular through the reduction of poverty, be formulated in such a way that it would aim at lifting at least 20 million people from the risk of poverty and exclusion by 2020;
• to accept the three set up indicators established by the Social Protection Committee.
Comment
We have seen two Council formations trying to define improved indicators and numerical targets ahead of the European Council. It is hard for a lay reader to understand how they alter or refine the Commission’s proposal. They look like a communicator’s nightmare.
If Coreper, the GAC, president Herman Van Rompuy or the European Council do not improve on the texts, hopefully someone with communicative skills translates these latest proposals on the summit table into clear and engaging prose, if the European Council wants to (as it tells us) involve national parliaments, social partners, regions and other stakeholders, so as to increase ownership of the Europe 2020 strategy.
Ralf Grahn
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
European Council 17 June 2010: Van Rompuy’s chance to reform governance
The latest blog entry European Council 17 June 2010: Impetus needed on governance asked the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, to improve the standards of information and governance in the interest of citizens, transparency, good governance and democratic participation.
Is this just hopeless idealism in the best of all possible worlds?
Few people seem to mind, anyway.
Actually, few people seem to give a damn about what the heads of state or government are up to at the European Council.
(Not that they have been encouraged, I would say.)
The facts
Let us take a look at the facts, two days ahead of the 17 June 2010 European Council meeting. What advance information is available? You can then judge for yourself.
An annotated draft agenda, dated 7 May 2010, has been published (Council document 9533/10). A few headline issues are briefly mentioned.
There are no background notes since the 25 to 26 March 2010 Spring meeting.
No documents have (as it seems) been submitted to the June European Council, except the annotated draft agenda mentioned above.
Yesterday, the General Affairs Council (GAC) met in Luxembourg to prepare the European Council (document 11021/10). This is all the GAC had to say about the upcoming summit:
Comments
We notice that an annotated draft agenda with a different document number than above (and it is dated 4 May), but otherwise we are none the wiser.
The draft conclusions were and remain undisclosed.
No proposals have been published with reasons and underlying documents.
Without issues out in the open and clearly identified, how is informed advance public debate supposed to take place?
Van Rompuy’s chance to reform
According to Article 3 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Council, the president Herman Van Rompuy has the power to lead on the annotated draft agenda and the provisional agenda, as well as the issues (preparation and continuity).
This means that, with good will, Van Rompuy could establish more open, transparent and inviting practices by improving on past behaviour.
Even if the heads of state or government stopped short of rising to the standards of clear proposals and reasons as in other public bodies, agendas and background notes could be developed to name each issue individually, explain the context for each, as well as refer and link to the relevant proposals and reports in much greater detail than before.
Citizens, transparency, good governance and democratic participation would win.
Where are the drawbacks, if any?
Ralf Grahn
Is this just hopeless idealism in the best of all possible worlds?
Few people seem to mind, anyway.
Actually, few people seem to give a damn about what the heads of state or government are up to at the European Council.
(Not that they have been encouraged, I would say.)
The facts
Let us take a look at the facts, two days ahead of the 17 June 2010 European Council meeting. What advance information is available? You can then judge for yourself.
An annotated draft agenda, dated 7 May 2010, has been published (Council document 9533/10). A few headline issues are briefly mentioned.
There are no background notes since the 25 to 26 March 2010 Spring meeting.
No documents have (as it seems) been submitted to the June European Council, except the annotated draft agenda mentioned above.
Yesterday, the General Affairs Council (GAC) met in Luxembourg to prepare the European Council (document 11021/10). This is all the GAC had to say about the upcoming summit:
PREPARATION OF THE JUNE EUROPEAN COUNCIL
The Council examined draft conclusions for the European Council meeting to be held on 17 June, prepared by the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, in cooperation with the Spanish presidency and the Commission.
Issues to be addressed by the European Council, as set out in an annotated draft agenda issued in May (doc. 9282/10), include:
– Jobs and growth: adoption of the Europe 2020 strategy;
– G-20: preparation of the Toronto summit;
– Development policy: UN millennium development goals;
– Climate change.
President Van Rompuy is also expected to present an interim report on the work of the task force on economic governance that he chairs, at the request of the European Council, and which has held its first two meetings.
The draft conclusions will be reviewed in the light of the Council's discussion.
Comments
We notice that an annotated draft agenda with a different document number than above (and it is dated 4 May), but otherwise we are none the wiser.
The draft conclusions were and remain undisclosed.
No proposals have been published with reasons and underlying documents.
Without issues out in the open and clearly identified, how is informed advance public debate supposed to take place?
Van Rompuy’s chance to reform
According to Article 3 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Council, the president Herman Van Rompuy has the power to lead on the annotated draft agenda and the provisional agenda, as well as the issues (preparation and continuity).
This means that, with good will, Van Rompuy could establish more open, transparent and inviting practices by improving on past behaviour.
Even if the heads of state or government stopped short of rising to the standards of clear proposals and reasons as in other public bodies, agendas and background notes could be developed to name each issue individually, explain the context for each, as well as refer and link to the relevant proposals and reports in much greater detail than before.
Citizens, transparency, good governance and democratic participation would win.
Where are the drawbacks, if any?
Ralf Grahn
Sunday, 13 June 2010
EU General Affairs Council 14 June 2010 background note
The previous blog entry, EU General Affairs Council 14 June 2010, showed us that the bare bones agenda for a Council meeting, in this case the General Affairs Council (GAC), is far from a rich basis for informed public debate about real issues.
For instance, the words “European Council, Brussels, 17 June 2010” refer to the whole summit: draft conclusions, possible statements and perhaps scores of underlying reports and documents. Europe’s actions to create jobs and growth and to put its public finances in order are only some of the “trifles” the June 17 summit is supposed to lead on, aided by enlightened citizens.
Background notes may be more helpful, although their quality varies. Let us take a look.
The GAC background note presents issues in general terms and without references or links to relevant documents. For people who follow EU affairs, such as the journalists probably intended to be the primary recipients, it can serve as a check-list to tick off various items, but it is pretty worthless as a source of information.
The Council’s standards of governance and its will to communicate are far from impressive in a union in which “decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen”.
About 16:00 local time, the Council is going to hold a public debate on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), for those who are interested in this “innovation” with limited scope.
Other public information
During the Swedish Council presidency, the materials ahead of the meetings were sometimes informative, useful and easy to navigate from generalities to more detailed information. My impression is that the quality has lapsed with Spain at the Council helm, although there have been a few positive exceptions.
Now the Swedish government’s web page on the GAC meeting is as bland as the paper from the Council.
Traditionally, the government of Sweden offers an annotated agenda ahead of each Council meeting (Kommenterad dagordning), naturally in Swedish. Even if cautious and general in tone, the four page note by the Swedish representation in Brussels names a few issues actually being discussed.
The Finnish government published a fairly general press release about the GAC meeting, in Finnish, Swedish and English.
***
Second order elections, third order public information, fourth order debate and fifth order participation seem to be the stuff the “democratic life of the Union” is made of.
Ralf Grahn
For instance, the words “European Council, Brussels, 17 June 2010” refer to the whole summit: draft conclusions, possible statements and perhaps scores of underlying reports and documents. Europe’s actions to create jobs and growth and to put its public finances in order are only some of the “trifles” the June 17 summit is supposed to lead on, aided by enlightened citizens.
Background notes may be more helpful, although their quality varies. Let us take a look.
The GAC background note presents issues in general terms and without references or links to relevant documents. For people who follow EU affairs, such as the journalists probably intended to be the primary recipients, it can serve as a check-list to tick off various items, but it is pretty worthless as a source of information.
The Council’s standards of governance and its will to communicate are far from impressive in a union in which “decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen”.
About 16:00 local time, the Council is going to hold a public debate on the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), for those who are interested in this “innovation” with limited scope.
Other public information
During the Swedish Council presidency, the materials ahead of the meetings were sometimes informative, useful and easy to navigate from generalities to more detailed information. My impression is that the quality has lapsed with Spain at the Council helm, although there have been a few positive exceptions.
Now the Swedish government’s web page on the GAC meeting is as bland as the paper from the Council.
Traditionally, the government of Sweden offers an annotated agenda ahead of each Council meeting (Kommenterad dagordning), naturally in Swedish. Even if cautious and general in tone, the four page note by the Swedish representation in Brussels names a few issues actually being discussed.
The Finnish government published a fairly general press release about the GAC meeting, in Finnish, Swedish and English.
***
Second order elections, third order public information, fourth order debate and fifth order participation seem to be the stuff the “democratic life of the Union” is made of.
Ralf Grahn
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