Country-specific recommendations to tackle the coronavirus pandemic

Today, the European Commission published the European Semester Spring Package. The recommendations provide economic policy guidance to all EU member states in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. In doing so, the recommendations address two objectives:

Mitigating severe negative socio-economic consequences of the pandemic on a short-term basis;
Achieving sustainable and inclusive growth to facilitate the green transition and digital transformation.

Recommendations for public health, social inclusion, and green growth

The European Commission focuses its recommendations on four dimensions: stability, fairness, environmental sustainability and competitiveness. In view of the current pandemic, the recommendations further reflect upon public health.

Additionally, the country- specific recommendations are taking into account the European Union’s committment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The emphasis on Sustainable Development Goals is all the more topical, as they offer an integrated framework that includes health, social, environmental and economic concerns.

Thereby, the framework provides a guidance for multi-sectoral policy develpment and implementation.

The recommendations cover areas such as:

investing in public health and resilience of the health sector;
preserving employment through income support for affected workers;
investing in people and skills;
supporting the corporate sector (in particular small and medium-sized enterprises) and taking action against aggressive tax planning and money laundering.

The aim of the suggested measures is to support the recovery of the European economy through digital and green transition.

Monitoring fiscal developments

The fiscal country-specific recommendations are of qualitative nature. They reflect the activation of the general escape clause. Thereby, the European Commission recommends that the EU member states should take all necessary measures to effectively address the pandemic, sustain the economy, and support recovery.

The fiscal CSRs this year are qualitative, departing from the budgetary requirements that would normally apply. recommending that Member States take all necessary measures to effectively address the pandemic, sustain the economy and support the ensuing recovery.

The Commission has also adopted reports under Article 126(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU for all Member States except Romania, which is already in the corrective arm of the Pact. The Commission is required to prepare these reports for Member States that are themselves planning – for reasons related to the coronavirus – or are forecast by the Commission, to breach the 3% deficit limit in 2020. These reports take into account the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on national public finances.

A coordinated European economic response is crucial to relaunch economic activity, mitigate damage to the economic and social fabric, and to reduce divergences and imbalances. The European Semester of economic and employment policy coordination therefore constitutes a crucial element of the recovery strategy. Against this background, the Commission calls on the Council to adopt these country-specific recommendations and on Member States to implement them fully and in a timely manner.

Country-specific recommendations | Spring Package 2020

Austria	Download Report AT_en
Bulgaria	Download Report BG_en
Croatia	Download Report HR_en
Czechia	Download Report CZ_en
Germany	Download Report DE_en
Hungary	Download Report HU_en
Romania	Download Report RO_en
Slovakia	Download Report SK_en
Slovenia	Download Report SI_en

Country-specific recommendations and European Structural and Investment Funding

‘The European Commission’s country-specific recommendations serve as an important starting point for programming EU funds. Currently, the programming authorities in the EU member states are undergoing consultation and programming procedures for the funding period 2021-2027.