Structural reforms and economic governance
Properly implementing structural reforms can have a significant positive effect on long-term growth. Analysis by the OECD suggests that “if countries were to move to best practice in product and labour market policy settings, aggregate output in the Euro-area could rise by more than 6% by 2025”. This would almost halve the per capita gap with the United States by 2030.
Once a year the European Commission proposes country-specific recommendations (CSRs) to member states for budgetary, economic and social policies which are subsequently adopted by the Council.
According to our 2020 survey of member federations, the impetus for economic reform has been dented. Our member federations estimate that countries have satisfactorily implemented only 13 % of the reforms agreed in the European Semester process, down from 20% last year.
