The European Commission today presented its assessment of the progress made by EU countries in the implementation of economic and social tasks.

Its annual assessment notes the need to promote investment, responsible fiscal policies and the implementation of well-planned reforms. Challenges vary widely across countries and require appropriate and targeted policy action, the report said.

The current review of the challenges facing individual countries is taking place at a time when the European economy is expected to grow in 2019 for a seventh consecutive year, but more moderate. Employment is at a record high, and unemployment is at a record low. Public finances have also improved, although some countries still face high levels of debt.

The level of productivity remains weak, the aging of the population intensifies and rapid technological change has a significant impact on the labor market. In some countries, real household income levels remain below pre-crisis levels. Youth unemployment has declined significantly, but in some countries it is still unacceptably high. At a time of more pronounced global uncertainty, it is crucial that the EU countries step up their actions to increase productivity, improve the sustainability of their economies, and ensure that economic growth benefits all citizens.

Following the presentation in November of the Annual Growth Survey and the Eurozone Economic Policy Recommendation defining the tasks at European level, the 28 national country reports today draw attention to the national dimension of the European Semester. The reports provide a detailed analysis of country-specific economic and social challenges. They will serve as a basis for discussing with their countries their national policy decisions before they prepare their national programs in April and will lead to the drawing up at the end of spring of country-specific recommendations.

The Commission is launching a discussion on the challenges and tasks related to investment in EU countries and presents first ideas on how European funds, especially cohesion policy funds, could be beneficial to the Community budget by 2027. This step will serve to ensure greater consistency of economic policies and the use of EU funds, which represent a significant part of public investment in some countries.

Country reports assess progress on country-by-country recommendations from July last year. States have made some or more progress in meeting more than two-thirds of the recommendations issued after 2011. States have made the most progress in terms of recommendations in the field of financial services. Sustained progress has also been made in reforms to facilitate the creation of permanent contracts.

One way the EC has used the past years to help countries step up their reform efforts is through its structural reform support program. This year, under the Structural Reform Support Program, technical assistance will be provided to 26 countries to implement more than 260 projects. They are in addition to over 290 projects selected in 2017 and 2018.

In November last year, the EC launched in-depth reviews of 13 EU countries to assess whether they are affected by macroeconomic imbalances. The Commission has come to the conclusion that there are imbalances or excessive imbalances in all of these 13 countries, but in some cases the gravity of imbalances is decreasing.

There are economic imbalances in Bulgaria, Germany, Spain, France, Croatia, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Sweden. Excessive imbalances are found in Cyprus, Greece and Italy. The Commission will continue to review the developments and policy measures taken by all countries with imbalances or excessive imbalances, especially for the European Semester.

The Commission today presented its opinion on Slovenia's revised draft budget plan as it was presented in October last year based on a "no policy change" scenario and was again presented in the meantime. According to the EC, the revised draft budget plan creates a risk of non-compliance with the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact. Both the Slovenian plan and the EC estimate that the draft budget plan would lead to a significant deviation from the adjustment path towards the country's medium-term objective. Therefore, Slovenia is invited to take the necessary measures within the framework of national budgetary procedures to ensure that this year's budget is in line with the requirements of the Stability and Growth Pact.

Greece joined the European semester process after finalizing its stability program last summer. The Commission adopted its second report in the framework of enhanced surveillance. The report assesses the progress made by Greece on the policy commitments made at the Eurogroup meeting in June 2018. The report concludes that while Greece has made significant progress in implementing its specific reform commitments until by the end of 2018, speeds in some areas are slow and has led to delays in key reforms.

The Commission presented the progress report on the implementation of the Council Recommendation of 20 September 2016 setting up national productivity councils. The report assesses changes in productivity and competitiveness in the EU and provides an overview of the productivity tips set up at the end of 2018. National Productivity Boards have already been set up in 10 eurozone countries. All other eurozone countries have confirmed their intention to create such advice in the near future.

The Commission also adopted a proposal to maintain the EU Council's 2018 Council Decision on Guidelines for the Employment Policies of the EU Member States. This year's proposal reaffirms the compliance of the Employment Guidelines with the 20 principles of the European Social Rights Pillar as their common objectives and priorities remain valid. The Employment Guidelines contain common priorities and targets for national employment policies and provide a legal basis for country-specific recommendations in these areas that need to be re-adopted each year.

The Commission also presented a report on the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Skills, which is part of the new skills acquisition program for Europe presented by the Commission in June 2016. So far, 61 million senior citizens in the EU have completed, at best, lower secondary education. With this recommendation, countries have committed themselves to offering older people with low skills and qualifications new and better opportunities to improve their basic linguistic and mathematical literacy skills and digital skills. The report reviews the measures taken by countries.

The EU Council is expected to discuss the country reports together with the results of the in-depth reviews. In the coming months, the EC will organize bilateral meetings with EU countries on relevant reports. Vice-presidents, Commissioners and Commission services will visit countries to meet governments, parliaments, social partners and other stakeholders to discuss the assessments in the reports.

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