75 Europe 2020 Strategy
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny; drawn to the attention of the Treasury, Business, Innovation and Skills and Work and Pensions Committees
|
| Document details | Commission Communication on the results of a consultation on the Europe 2020 Strategy
|
| Legal base | —
|
| Department
Document numbers
| HM Treasury
(36754), 7273/15, COM(15) 100
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
75.1 In March 2010 the European Council endorsed a "Europe
2020 Strategy" for the coming decade. It set out the challenges
facing the EU over the coming decade and the need for "a
strategy to turn the EU into a smart, sustainable and inclusive
economy delivering high levels of employment, productivity and
social cohesion". It set out five headline targets, covering
employment, research and development, climate and energy, education,
social inclusion and poverty reduction, which the EU should aim
to achieve by 2020. On 5 May 2014, the European Commission launched
a public consultation for a midterm review of the Europe 2020
Strategy, with a deadline of 31 October 2014.
75.2 In this Communication the Commission reports
the results of its public consultation on the Europe 2020 Strategy.
75.3 The Government says that no policy implications
arise directly from the Communication, but tells us that the UK
submitted a response in 2014 to the Commission on the review and
describes the three principles which guided the response and the
six recommendations the Government made.
75.4 Whilst clearing this document from scrutiny,
we draw it to the attention of the House for the information it
gives about how the review of the Europe 2020 Strategy is developing.
We think it will be of particular interest to the Treasury, Business,
Innovation and Skills and Work and Pensions Committees.
Full
details of the documents: Commission Communication
on the results of the public consultation on the Europe 2020
strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth: (36754),
7273/15, COM(15) 100.
Background
75.5 In March 2010 the European Council endorsed
a "Europe 2020 Strategy" for the coming decade. It set
out the challenges facing the EU over the coming decade and the
need for "a strategy to turn the EU into a smart, sustainable
and inclusive economy delivering high levels of employment, productivity
and social cohesion" and proposed:
· policy
priorities that focused on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth;
· seven
flagship initiatives to deliver on those policy priorities;
· mobilising
EU instruments and policies such as the single market to pursue
the strategy's objectives; and
· a governance
structure that included five headline targets, covering employment,
research and development, climate and energy, education, social
inclusion and poverty reduction, that the EU should aim to achieve
by 2020.
75.6 On May 5 2014, the European Commission launched
a public consultation for a midterm review of the Europe 2020
Strategy, with a deadline of 31 October 2014.
The document
75.7 In this Communication the Commission reports
the results of its public consultation on the Europe 2020 Strategy.
It has an introduction, an executive summary, sections on context,
key figures, and main outcomes, and a conclusion. In its introduction
the Commission explains what the Europe 2020 Strategy is and says
that the first years of the strategy coinciding with a financial
and economic crisis had significant impact on progress towards
its goals.
75.8 In relation to context, noting that in March
2014 it published a Communication taking stock of the strategy,[ 508]
the Commission says that:
· halfway
to the 2020 deadline the delivery of jobs and growth objectives
is mixed;
· the
legacy of the crisis is particularly acute in labour markets,
with youth unemployment being a major concern;
· it is
important for Member States to prioritise growth-enhancing expenditure;
· the
crisis has also affected progress towards headline targets, with
a negative impact on employment and poverty targets, which together
with the research and development targets are not on course to
be met;
· the
EU is on course to meet its targets on education, climate and
energy;
· the
2020 targets are political commitments, with targets not sufficiently
ambitious at the national level to meet EU-level targets;
· mixed
progress on the 2020 targets can be attributed to the time lag
with which structural reforms affect the economy;
· growing
divergences exist in the performance of key indicators across
and within Member States, and have hampered progress; and
· in light
of this, one of the aims of the public consultation was to gain
knowledge on delivery of the strategy.
75.9 In the key figures section the Commission says
that:
· 775
respondents took part in the consultation;
· 41%
of these were social partners, 20% governments and public authorities,
19% individual citizens, 14% academics and 6% companies;
· a majority
of participants covered all areas of the strategy in their replies;
· EU and
national institutions have also fed into the consultation; and
· reflections
on the review have generated strong interest and mobilised stakeholders
involved in the implementation of the strategy.
75.10 As for outcomes and conclusions the Commission,
noting that there were four main outcomes from the public consultation,
says first that the scope and the objectives of the Europe 2020
Strategy are considered to be relevant, with 86% of respondents
considering that the EU needs a strategy for jobs and growth.
Secondly, it considers that the current five headlines targets
are relevant and mutually reinforcing, with 87% considering them
a useful tool. The Commission says there is strong support for
keeping the current five targets, with 78% of respondents considering
them sufficient, and with no clear hierarchy emerging from the
consultation. Thirdly, the Communication notes the flagship initiatives
have served their purpose, although, however, a significant number
of respondents give a mixed assessment. Finally, the Commission
considers that improving delivery and implementation would be
desirable —
40% of respondents say the Europe 2020 Strategy has not made a
difference, and the Commission argues that successful implementation
has been affected by weaknesses in awareness, involvement and
enforcement.
The Government's view
75.11 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 3 June 2015
the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke) introduces
his remarks by saying that the Government notes this Commission
summary of the results of the consultation and that no policy
implications arise directly from the Communication. He then tells
us that under the previous Government the UK submitted a response
on 31 October 2014 to the Commission on the review.[ 509]
He says that the response was guided by three principles:
· that
the focus of Europe 2020 Strategy should remain firmly on jobs
and growth and enabling the private sector to produce this growth;
· that
the strategy should seek to balance actions by Member States with
cost effective EU-level policy levers, while fully respecting
the principles of subsidiarity and not incurring additional EU-level
spending; and
· that
here should be a partnership between the Commission and Member
States, with the Commission providing analysis and Member States
taking ownership of reforms.
75.12 The Minister continues that the UK's response
made six recommendations:
· that
the Europe 2020 Strategy should remain focused on growth and jobs,
including by avoiding new or extended EU-level targets;
· the
strategy should pay greater attention to creating a favourable
business environment and access to credit;
· to increase
transparency and ownership, the Commission should share its analysis
and draft CSRs (adopted annually in the context of the European
Semester);
· the
Commission should make greater use of pre-existing globally recognised
indicators;
· the
structural reform elements of the European Semester should be
moved to a biennial system, with half of Member States subject
to the process each year; and
· there
should be a renewed and ambitious EU-level structural reform agenda,
including regulatory reform, a stronger Single Market and far-reaching
free trade agreements.
Previous Committee Reports
None.
508 (35852), 6713/14 + ADD 1: see 45th Report HC 83-xl
(2013-14), chapter 9 (2 April 2014). Back
509 UK Government Response. Back
| 
