Country-Specific Recommendations - Scorecard for 2013: How far are EU Member States meeting their European Council commitments?

Studie 03-11-2014

This study provides an evaluation of the implementation of the 2013 Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) adopted by the EU Council of Finance Ministers, after endorsement by the European Council. CSRs relate to four broad policy areas: public finances, the financial sector, structural reforms, and employment and social policies. The text focuses on 14 EU Member States for which an IMF Country Report and/or an OECD Economic Survey have already been published in 2014. EU Member States, which were under an Economic Adjustment Programme – namely, Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus - are not covered by this analysis, as the Commission did not issue any CSRs for them in 2013. The interim analysis contained in this study suggests that implementation of CSRs by EU Member States continued to lose momentum last year. Only 12 per cent of the CSRs were fully addressed in 2013, compared to an average of 18 per cent in 2011-12. Conversely, the rate of 'no implementation' rose to 50 per cent, from 43 per cent in 2011-12.