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European Semester for economic policy coordination 2024

TA-9-2024-0156 · P9_TA(2024)0156 · PE757.014

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✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 26 Sept 2026

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Parliament's resolution on the 2024 European Semester sets out its views on EU economic policy coordination. It notes weak growth, falling inflation and high debt, and calls for investment, structural reforms and stronger national ownership. It asks member states to wind down crisis-related energy support, phase out fossil fuel subsidies, tackle tax fraud and money laundering, and conduct spending reviews. It calls for country-specific recommendations focused on growth, competitiveness, the green and digital transitions and social fairness, and linked more closely to country reports. It welcomes flexibility in adjusting the Recovery and Resilience Facility and calls for rapid, transparent implementation, with milestones consistent with the recommendations. It takes note of the provisional political agreement on reforming the EU economic governance framework and asks for more Parliament engagement and accountability.

Key points

  1. Expresses concern about weak growth, competitiveness and productivity, and about energy prices and inflation hitting households and companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises.
  2. Says structural challenges hinder growth potential and that ambitious structural reforms are essential to strengthen the EU's economic base and competitiveness.
  3. Stresses that a lack of public and private investment hinders growth, and that any contractionary fiscal stance should not come at the expense of investment.
  4. Calls for deepening the single market, removing barriers to investment, digitalising administrative procedures, and developing capital markets and industrial policy.
  5. Invites member states to conduct spending reviews, wind down crisis-related energy support and phase out fossil fuel subsidies, and to tackle tax fraud, tax avoidance, tax evasion and money laundering.
  6. Concurs that risks from high debt and price divergences remain relevant, especially where debt servicing requires large rollovers or private interest payments rise steeply.
  7. Calls on euro area member states to explore all means to complete the revision of the European Stability Mechanism Treaty to introduce the common backstop to the Single Resolution Fund.
  8. Calls for stronger national ownership of the European Semester, including through local and regional authorities.
  9. Says the 2024 country-specific recommendations should promote growth, competitiveness, macroeconomic stability, the green and digital transitions and social fairness, and be linked more closely to country reports.
  10. Welcomes flexibility in adjusting the Recovery and Resilience Facility and says milestones and targets in national recovery plans should be consistent with the country-specific recommendations.
  11. Supports streamlining cohesion policy programmes with investment needs identified under the Recovery and Resilience Facility and in the recommendations, and calls for stakeholder participation.
  12. Takes note of the provisional political agreement on reforming the EU economic governance framework and asks for increased Parliament engagement, accountability and information flow.

Who is affected

  • Member states: asked to take targeted measures, conduct spending reviews, wind down energy support and phase out fossil fuel subsidies.
  • Euro area member states: called to explore completing the European Stability Mechanism Treaty revision for the common backstop.
  • Commission: asked to link country-specific recommendations more closely to country reports and to monitor their implementation.
  • Households and companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises: affected by energy prices and inflation, with risk of poverty.

Figures and deadlines

  • 0,5 %: estimated economic activity expansion in 2023 in both the EU and the euro area.
  • 0,9 % (from 1,3 %) in the EU and 0,8 % (from 1,2 %) in the euro area: revised expected GDP growth for 2024.
  • 1,7 % in the EU and 1,5 % in the euro area: expected economic activity expansion in 2025.
  • 14,7 % in the EU and 14,4 % in the euro area: youth unemployment in December 2023.
  • 6,3 % in 2023 to 3,0 % in 2024 and 2,5 % in 2025 in the EU; 5,4 % in 2023 to 2,7 % in 2024 and 2,2 % in 2025 in the euro area: projected inflation.
  • 83,1 % in the EU in 2023 (90,4 % in the euro area); around 82,7 % in 2024 and 82,5 % in 2025 in the EU; around 89,7 % in 2024 and 89,5 % in 2025 in the euro area: debt-to-GDP ratio.
  • 3,2 % of GDP in 2023, 2,8 % in 2024 and 2,7 % in 2025: expected general government deficit in the EU and the euro area.
  • 0,5 % of GDP in both 2023 and 2024: expected contractionary aggregate fiscal stance.

Legal basis: Articles 121(2) and 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.