How to make the European Semester more effective and legitimate?

Hĺbková analýza 24-07-2020

The Commission has launched an assessment and revision of the so-called six-pack and two-pack legislative packages. This paper assesses the successes and shortcomings of the European Semester with a focus on legitimacy, effectiveness and ownership. It argues that in order to address these problems, the framework should be redesigned from a new starting point, which builds on existing divisions of competence and clear decision making structures. This would help to restore the honesty and credibility of the Semester, which should be geared at supporting accountability at the national level.