Growth and jobs: Denmark's EU Council presidency

Prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and the rest of the Danish government presented the presidency programme Friday:

Europe at work: Programme of the Danish Presidency of the European Union 2012, 1 January to 30 June 2012 (61 pages)

The programme is available in Danish, French and German as well through the presidency web pages.


Priorities

The government of Denmark offers four wide headings as its priorities for the first six months of 2012:

* A responsible Europe
* A dynamic Europe
* A green Europe
* A safe Europe

The introduction presents the themes in a nutshell (pages 4-6), with more detail added for each of them in the general part of the programme (pages 7-22).

I already commented in Swedish (Grahnblawg) on A responsible Europe facing the financial and economic crises in the euro area.

After the macroeconomic section, in this blog post I turn to the second prioroity A dynamic Europe, on pages 10-14.


A dynamic Europe

The catchwords are growth and jobs, and the means include revitalising the single market (the Single Market Act). The reform of the European patent system is mentioned as a concrete measure. A digital single market requires a number of actions.

The Danish government underlines the social dimension(s) of the single market. Simplified rules for public procurement, effective standardisation, as well as better framework conditions for companies and consumers are outlined, together with an internal market for energy.

The next generation of EU programmes for education, research and innovation is treated under the headline A competitive single market for knowledge, which includes the programme Horizon 2020.

Social aspects regarding mobile workers and eHealth have already brought some Danish nuances to the fore, and the same can be seen in relation to the subheading Sustainable growth and development throughout the EU, which gravitates around cohesion policy as an important part of the next long term budget (Multiannual Financial Framework).

The programme takes account of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (2012), discussing the health of older people as well as their participation in the labour market. Gender equality and labour market flexibility can be seen as Danish highlights.

Denmark wants to see fewer boys dropping out of school and more young women enrolling in education programmes in growth areas. Legal immigration of qualified labour is seen as essential for the future, as is freer movement for services and workers within the EU.

The programme aims at promoting external trade with the EU neighbourhood and other countries.


Comments

The Danish presidency programme is very much in line with the purposes of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (although the EU2020 strategy is explicitly named just a few times).

Most Council presidencies have mentioned knowledge, social aspects, labour market flexibility, gender equality, sustainable growth etc., but my feeling is that these are among the areas where the government of Denmark wants to export some of its ideas, solutions and experiences to the European Union as a whole.

Denmark's combination of competitiveness, equality and functioning institutions make it one of the success stories in the light of international comparisons, so most EU countries could profit.

All in all, despite some emphasis with country colouring, the Danish presidency programme gives the impression of being quite mainstream: an honest broker diligently carrying the torch for a period of six months.


Media

Perhaps the next priority, A green Europe, goes a bit beyond that, as the Espacio de Ideas blog by Pau Solanilla comments (in Spanish).

The CTA Brussels Office Blog has reported briefly on the priorities and the Open Europe blog has compared the (slim) presidency budget with others.

On the European Voice, Simon Taylor offered some background to the Danish EU Council presidency: a country outside the eurozone and a government from the left.

If we believe that ”no news is good news”, we can conclude that the Danish presidency has caused few ripples in media dedicated to European affairs. Perhaps Danish design evokes sinister plots much less than it does sleek form and function.



Ralf Grahn

What is the EU doing for growth and jobs?

The European Council has repeatedly endorsed and called for a Digital Single Market, as well as other growth reforms. This quote comes from the conclusions 9 December 2011 (EUCO 139/11; page 1, point 2):

Recalling the key priority areas for growth it identified in October 2011, in particular, the Single Market Act, the Digital Single Market and the reduction of overall regulatory burden for SMEs and microenterprises, the European Council stressed the need to swiftly adopt the measures with the most potential to boost growth and jobs. It therefore supports the principle of a fast-track programme and invites the Council and the European Parliament to give particular priority to the speedy examination of the proposals identified by the Commission, including in its Annual Growth Survey, as having substantial growth potential. It endorses the actions proposed by the Commission in its report on minimising regulatory burdens for SMEs.

In most EU member states the government coffers are empty and for some countries public borrowing (even refinancing) has become prohibitively expensive. Despite the glide into recession, there is scant hope for massive stimulus through state budgets.

Governments are mainly left with the opportunity to undertake qualitative growth reforms, in order to unleash the potential for a return to economic growth, prosperity and job creation. The sooner, the better, but becoming competitive often means breaking societal taboos in the very member states where the reforms have been lagging.

Without going into the substance, here is a compilation of the main EU level programmes to engender growth and new jobs.


Reforms for growth and jobs

Competitiveness is a key concept. For the convenience of readers, here are a few sources regarding proposals and developments to unleash growth potential in the European Union.


Single Market Act

The Single Market Act – twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence – and the latest developments.


EU2020 and flagship initiatives

The Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, with seven flagship initiatives:

Digital Agenda for Europe, including the fresh Annual Progress Report 2011 (22 December 2011), where developments regarding the Pillar 1 aim ”A vibrant digital single market” are recorded on pages 2-6.

Innovation Union, including the report State of the Innovation Union 2011; Brussels, 2.12.2011 COM(2011) 849 final

Youth on the Move

A Resource-efficient Europe

An Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era, including the monitoring report Industrial Policy: Reinforcing competitiveness; Brussels, 14.10.2011 COM(2011) 642 final, or the fuller version including SEC(2011) 1187. Also the European Competetiveness Report 2011.

An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs. Also the report Employment and Social Developments in Europe (15 December 2011), downloadable here.

European platform against poverty and social exclusion. Also the report Employment and Social Developments in Europe (15 December 2011), downloadable here.


Annual Growth Survey 2012

Annual Growth Survey 2012 VOL. 1/5; Brussels, 23.11.2011 COM(2011) 815 final

The four AGS Annexes Progress Report on Europe 2020 (Volume 2), Macro-economic Report (Volume 3), Draft Joint Employment Report (Volume 4) and Growth-friendly tax policies in Member States and better tax coordination in the EU (Volume 5), are downloadable here.


Smart Regulation

The communication Smart Regulation in the European Union, Brussels, 8.10.2010 COM(2010) 543 final, is a part of the Better Regulation strategy. The recent report Minimizing regulatory burden for SMEs - Adapting EU regulation to the needs of micro-enterprises, Brussels, 23.11.2011 COM(2011) 803 final, was endorsed by the European Council, as we saw above.




Ralf Grahn

EU2020: Learning from the best

After the series about the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), I reported the publication of a new Digital Agenda for Sweden and then took a first look at policy outcomes in Denmark in the light of the competitiveness, growth and employment aims of the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020). Next we looked at the twelve pillars of competitiveness wisdom, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).


Learning from the best

We have just scratched the surface of the comparative report on productivity and growth potential globally:

Klaus Schwab (Editor): The Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012 (World Economic Forum WEF; 527 pages)

Those who are interested in EU2020-related economic reform issues at national or EU level notice that among the 142 countries and territories ranked, the two top positions go to countries outside the European Union.

Switzerland remains the WEF World Champion, most notably with regard to innovation, technological readiness and labour market efficiency, but also due to its strong showing in practically every category (page 11 summary).

Singapore advanced to second place due to its excellent institutions, as well as its efficient goods, labour and financial markets (page 11-12 summary).

The following top ten emerged from the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 2011-2012 rankings (page 15):

1. Switzerland
2. Singapore
3. Sweden
4. Finland
5. United States
6. Germany
7. Netherlands
8. Denmark
9. Japan
10. United Kingdom

Instructive summaries follow for the individual countries.

ITIF

Between 2005 and 2011 the United States has declined from first to fifth position, but let us remember the big differences between the states. When the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation ITIF benchmarked innovation and competitiveness in the European Union and the United States, it found many worrying signs for both.

However, ITIF also found that Massachusetts and eight other states are on the top of the world:

Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, Delaware, Maryland, Colorado, and New Hampshire are more innovative than any nation in the world. Only Finland breaks into the top 10. In other words, nine states lead all nations in the world in terms of innovation-based competitiveness. If it were a nation, Massachusetts would lead the world by a large margin, scoring 18 points above California and 38 points higher than Finland. Massachusetts has set itself apart in several indicators, as the only state or country to have business R&D investment levels over 5 percent of domestic product, over 0.5 percent of domestic product in venture capital, and over two-thirds of its college aged population having a college degree. But even the ninth most innovative state, New Hampshire, leads the EU-25 on all measures but venture capital and broadband.

***

For those who work to turn their national reform programme (NRP) or the EU2020 aims into real progress, learning from the best is essential. The WEF top ten and the nine most competitive and innovative US states are among the places to look.



Ralf Grahn

EU2020 growth reforms Denmark: Policy outcomes

How does the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (EU2020) turn into reality in the EU member states? Indeed, after the failed Lisbon strategy we need to ask: Does it?

At least, through common statistics, shared goals and constant contact the European Union offers politicians and officials the opportunity to learn from the best.

Within the framework of the European semester, each member state submitted its macroeconomic stability or convergence programme according to the stability and growth pact (SGP), as well as its national reform programme (NRP) for structural reforms enhancing competitiveness and growth.

Denmark – of flexicurity fame – is one of the most competitive, innovative, inclusive - over all successful EU economies and societies.

Even if Denmark is also known for public expenditure above 50 per cent of GDP and correspondingly high taxes, the Nordic country is a reform model worth studying and learning from, if we want growth and jobs (a high employment rate) in Europe.

Before we turn to the national reform programme and policies, we need to get acquainted with Denmark.


Denmark in a nutshell

The OECD Government at a Glance 2011 offers us an astonishing amount of economic and administrative information on just four pages. I want you to give them careful thought:

Country note Denmark (24 June 2011)

The OECD Better Life Index for Denmark links to additional information concerning eleven policy areas (topics): housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance. Which Better Life Index policy outcomes do you find most desirable, most worthy of emulation?



Ralf Grahn

European Council on growth and jobs

The preceding blog posts, including the latest one 'European Council documentation: Ecofin integrated guidelines', left us wondering about the vanishing paper trail (accountability, transparency) and real scope of the endorsement from the European Council ”without any watering down”, as well as from the national leaders ”to do everything necessary”, with regard to Stability or Convergence Programmes and National Reform Programmes (NRPs).

Still, the impetus, political directions and guidelines from the European Council represent the top level signals for the development of the European Union, so we have cause to continue looking at what the summit had to say about economic policy:

European Council 23/24 June 2011: Conclusions (EUCO 23/11; 16 pages)


Economic growth

In paragraph 4 (page 3), the heads of state or government turned to economic growth and job creation, against backdrop of still sluggish and uneven progress:

4. National efforts must be supported by action at European Union level, particularly with the aim of unlocking Europe's full potential for economic growth and job creation. In this context, work should accelerate to deliver the Europe 2020 flagship initiatives and the Single Market Act, focusing on the priorities identified by the Council on 30 May 2011. In particular, the regulatory burden on SMEs needs to be further reduced and where appropriate micro-enterprises should be exempted from certain future regulations or at least be subject to a lighter regime. In this context, the European Council welcomes the commitment of the Commission to assess the impact of future regulations on micro enterprises and to screen the acquis to identify existing obligations from which micro enterprises could be excluded. It agreed to return to these issues at its December 2011 meeting. The Commission is also invited to prepare a roadmap on the completion of the digital Single Market by 2015. The Commission is invited to report in October 2011 on these growth-enhancing areas with a view to progress being achieved by the time of the Spring 2012 European Council.

The paragraph contains several interesting signals, which we need to unlock through brief references omitted by the leaders.


Europe 2020 strategy

The success of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (EU2020) depends mainly on reforms in the EU member states and on the willingness of the countries represented in the Council and the European Council to push for reforms at EU level.

Having pronounced on the public finances and growth-enhancing reforms in the member states, here the European Council addressed the Commission, which prepared and drives forward the seven flagship initiatives dedicated to EU level action: the Digital agenda for Europe, the Innovation Union, Youth on the Move, Resource efficient Europe, the industrial policy for the globalisation era, the agenda for new skills and jobs, and the European platform against poverty.


Single Market Act

Officially, the European Union has an internal market, but the benefits of a real single market beckon. The Single Market Act (SMA) is a step in this direction, entailing proposals promised in twelve areas, in order to support growth and job creation.

The Commission hopes to see the proposals adopte by the end of 2012.

A more detailed view of the intended actions is found in the communication from the Commission:

Single Market Act: Twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence "Working together to create new growth”; Brussels, 13.4.2011 COM(2011) 206 final


Council priorities

In an off-hand manner, but still, the European Council offered a clue by mentioning the priorities identified by the Council on 30 May 2011. This must mean the Competitiveness Council, although it is less clear if the summit endorsement targeted only the Single Market Act, or everything connected to the EU2020 flagship initiatives as well:

3094th Council meeting Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry, Research and Space); Brussels, 30 and 31 May 2011 (10547/11; 22 pages)

Here, let us focus on the Single Market Act, leaving the rest of the issues to readers interested enough to study the conclusions more fully.

We find the following text (with links in the original):

Single Market Act - Council conclusions

The Council held a debate and adopted conclusions on the implementation of the "Single Market Act" (SMA), which is a two-year plan (2011-2012) of 50 initiatives aimed at ensuring continuous optimisation of the internal market and contributing to the successful implementation of the Europe 2020 objectives on stimulating employment and economic growth (13977/1/10).

In the light of the outcome of a public consultation, the Commission submitted on 13 April 2011 a communication identifying the 12 levers that can best contribute to tapping the single market's potential for growth and employment. Moreover, the communication sets out a timetable for the adoption of each lever (9283/11).

The 12 levers for growth and social progress include actions in the areas of workers' mobility, financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, consumer protection, the digital single market, energy taxation and trans-European networks.

Among other things, the conclusions invite the Commission to put forward all these key actions before the end of 2011 and calls on all actors to commit themselves to adopting a first set of priority measures to give a new impetus to the single market by 2012.

10993/11

The links lead to the corrected version of the original communication (13977/1/10), the April communication (9283/11), and the Council priorities (10993/11):

Council Conclusions on the Priorities for Relaunching the Single Market (31 May 2011, 10993/11; 10 pages)

***

This is about enough for the first blog post about the first two sentences of the fourth paragraph.



Ralf Grahn



P.S. The Guardian praises Sir Nicolas Bratza, the new president of the European Court of Human Rights, which ensures the observance of the European Convention of Human Rights (concluded within the Council of Europe).

Europe 2020 strategy Press pack: Better, but still shotgun approach

What the Barroso II Commission has presented as its make of break challenges (raison d’être) are sound public finances and growth-enhancing reforms leading to new jobs. However, a long time has passed since formal endorsement of the Europe 2020 strategy by the European Council (17 June 2010; EUCO 13/10).



Since then the Commission as a body has done little to take ownership of or at least to communicate the developments concerning the Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) in a holistic manner, as seen in yesterday’s blog post about the central web portal: Europe 2020 website: From deplorable to absolute disgrace (4 October 2010).



This morning, the latest unsorted updating link on the Commission’s central Europe 2020 strategy web page was still from 17 July 2010, regarding funding for research and innovation.



EU2020 Press pack



On selected wide themes the Commission offers Press packs. In this case there is a Press pack on offer: Europe 2020 – a new economic strategy.

It clearly beats the central Europe 2020 strategy website, as it contains recent speeches by Commissioners and other press releases relevant to the EU2020 theme.

I have picked some of the more interesting ones for EU2020 as a whole:



Vice-President of the European Commission and the Commissioner responsible for inter-institutional relations and administration Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ spoke at the EESC: The Commission programme and social players' ownership of the Europe 2020 Strategy (17 September 2010; Speech/10/460).




The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, spoke to the US Council on Foreign Relations: Stabilise, Consolidate, Reform: EU Moves from Crisis Management to Reform Agenda (23 September 2010; Speech/10/478).




The Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor, addressed the Employment Committee of the European Parliament: 2011 Commission Work Programme (September 2010; Speech/10/512 30).




During the ongoing Open Days 2010 in Brussels, the European Week of Regions and Cities from 4 to 7 October 2010, 6,000 regional and local representatives meet under the headline Europe 2020: competitiveness, co-operation and cohesion for all regions.


The updated Press pack is better than the central EU2020 web page, which is dead as the dodo, but it still reflects a shotgun approach, without clear ownership.

Europe is worth something better.




Ralf Grahn



P.S. The multilingual aggregator for EU related blogs keeps growing. There are now 670 Euroblogs, or blogs related to EU (and CoE) affairs, listed on Bloggingportal.eu. You can take a look at the stream of all new posts, or follow the editors’ choices on the front page. You can also subscribe to the streams (all or highlighted) and the newsletters (daily or weekly) without cost.



Bloggingportal.eu needs a few more voluntary editors for the daily tagging of posts according to subjects. Why not keep informed by reading about European affairs, improve your language skills and do something useful by joining the team of editors?

EU Reflection Group delivered report: Project Europe 2030

We start by recalling the conclusions of the European Council 14 December 2007, one day after the Treaty of Lisbon was signed (document 16616/1/07). Reflections on “institutional” matters, current policies and the next long term budget were expressly prohibited:

Reflection Group horizon 2020-2030

8. In order to help the Union anticipate and meet challenges more effectively in the longer term (horizon 2020 - 2030), the European Council establishes an independent Reflection Group. Taking as its starting-point the challenges set out in the Berlin Declaration of 25 March 2007, the Group is invited to identify the key issues and developments which the Union is likely to face and to analyse how these might be addressed. This includes, inter alia: strengthening and modernising the European model of economic success and social responsibility, enhancing the competitiveness of the EU, the rule of law, sustainable development as a fundamental objective of the European Union, global stability, migration, energy and climate protection, and the fight against global insecurity, international crime and terrorism. Particular attention should be given to ways of better reaching out to citizens and addressing their expectations and needs.

9. The Group shall conduct its reflections within the framework set out in the Lisbon Treaty. It shall therefore not discuss institutional matters. Nor, in view of its long-term nature, should its analysis constitute a review of current policies or address the Union's next financial framework.

10. In its work, the Reflection Group will need to take into account likely developments within and outside Europe and examine in particular how the stability and prosperity of both the Union and of the wider region might best be served in the longer term.

11. The Group will be chaired by Mr Felipe Gonzalez Marquez, assisted by two Vice-Chairs, Ms Vaira Vike-Freiberga and Mr Jorma Ollila, and will include no more than 9 members selected from across the Union on the basis of merit. The Chairman and the Vice-Chairs are invited to submit a list of names to be considered by the European Council during the French Presidency.

12. The Group will consult as it deems appropriate and be responsible for the organisation of its own work.

13. The Group shall present its report to the European Council meeting of June 2010.

Project Europe 2030


Before the appointment, it was generally referred to as the Group of Wise Persons. In the report the Group added a few words to its name, in order to become discernible from past and future groups, so it became the Reflection Group on the Future of the EU 2030.



On 8 May 2010 the Felipe González, Chairman of Reflection Group, handed over the report to the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy:

Project Europe 2030 (for the English version; 46 pages)



The report is also available in Dutch, French, German and Spanish.



Creation of jobs and growth


The main message of the Project Europe 2030 report is:

Our top priority must remain creating jobs and growth.

The beginning of the report is written in the form of a letter from the Reflection Group to the European Council (pages 3 to 6).


The Reflection Group calls for more decisive political leadership from the intergovernmental bodies of the EU: the European Council and the Eurogroup (in coordination with the Commission and the European Parliament; page 6).


The strategic challenges mentioned in this summary are generally well known, but where the European Union has mainly tinkered on the edges, the need for concrete and decisive action is pronounced with gravity.


Among the challenges requiring solutions are:


• Avoiding protectionist temptations
• Medium and long-term reforms in addition to measures to overcome the current crisis
• Strengthening economic governance by correcting losses in competitiveness, reflected in balance of payments and current account deficits
• Reforming the functioning and supervision of financial institutions
• Achieving a highly competitive and sustainable social market economy in order to maintain social cohesion and fight against climate change
• Catching up in the race towards a knowledge economy
• Implementing a common energy policy
• Leading the fight against climate change
• Tackling the demographic challenge
• Strengthening the Single Market including services, the digital society and other new sectors driving growth and job creation
• Reforming the labour market
• Modernising corporate governance practices



The letter is rounded off with a few remarks on how the EU should become a citizens’ project.


At a first glance, the recommendations read like a damning report card on the lost decade of the Lisbon Strategy.


The European Communities and the EU could establish a museum dedicated to the reform reports which were politely received by the leaders and silently shunted aside to gather dust.


Are the prospects any better now?


Possibly. Since the beginning of this year there is one EU citizen with a vested interest to make the European Council deliver, its President Herman Van Rompuy.


Can he set the wheels in motion?


A haiku for your thoughts.




Ralf Grahn

European Union: Pinning high hopes on small businesses

Today the Commission launches the first European SME Week. In its press release European SME week to boost entrepreneurship in difficult times (6 May 2009; IP/09/704) the Commission pins high hopes on the small and medium-sized enterprises as drivers of growth and job creation.



The press release (including the links) ─ available in 22 languages ─ is valuable for those, who want a quick overview of the European Union’s activities to promote entrepreneurship.


Ralf Grahn