National Trade Union involvement in the European Semester-Analytical framework

摘要: The European Semester starts in November each year, when the European Commission publishes the Annual Growth Survey (AGS) and the Alert Mechanism Report (AMR). The AMR identifies, at an early stage, countries experiencing macro-economic imbalances and thus needing an in-depth review (IDR). In the AGS, the European Commission pinpoints the main economic challenges facing the EU and recommends priority measures for the coming year (Semester cycle).Member States should include the priorities and measures set out in the AGS when submitting both their Stability or Convergence Programmes (SCP) on budgetary policies and their National Reform Programmes (NRPs) on structural reforms. These two documents are submitted simultaneously by Member States at the end of April (mid-April in the case of Member States in the Eurozone), in order to ensure complementarities between fiscal and other structural policies. At least on paper, the NRPs are at the heart of the thematic coordination under the Europe 2020 strategy, as they represent the national application of European guidelines and policies.