- Latest update of text: July 2016. Planned article update: June 2017.
The European Union (EU) is active in a wide range of policy areas, but the economic domain has traditionally played a prominent role. Starting from the rather narrow focus of introducing common policies for coal and steel, atomic energy and agriculture as well as the creation of a customs union over 50 years ago, European economic policies progressively extended their scope to cover a multitude of domains.
In order to support policy developments a broad range of short-term and structural indicators are required. Eurostat data from a variety of different sources, such as national accounts, government finance statistics, exchange rates and interest rates, consumer prices, and the balance of payments, may be used to support analysis of the economic situation. These indicators are also used in the design, implementation and monitoring of the EU’s policies.
Single market
Since the end of 1992, the European single market has enhanced the possibilities for people, goods, services and money to move around the EU as freely as within a single country. The start of economic and monetary union (EMU) in 1999 gave economic and market integration further stimulus. The euro has become a symbol for Europe, and the number of countries that have adopted the single currency increased from an original 11 to 19 countries by 2015.
In April 2011, leading up to the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the single market, the European Commission released a Communication titled ‘Single Market Act — twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence’ (COM(2011) 206 final), aimed at improving the single market for businesses, workers and consumers. In October 2012, this was supported by a further Communication from the European Commission titled ‘Single Market Act II — Together for new growth’ (COM(2012) 573 final). The purpose of this second Communication was to build upon the first Single Market Act, identifying four drivers around which to focus new actions:
- developing fully integrated networks (such as transport and energy) in the single market;
- fostering the mobility of citizens and businesses across borders;
- supporting the digital economy across Europe to boost productivity and creativity;
- strengthening social entrepreneurship, cohesion and consumer confidence.
Europe 2020
Fostering economic and social progress has been a key objective of European policies. In March 2010, the European Commission launched the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Its objectives were to overcome the effects of the 2008 financial and economic crisis and to prepare the EU’s economy for the next decade; integrated economic and employment guidelines have been revised within the context of this new strategy.
Reinforced economic agenda
Following actions to stabilise the financial system and the economy, the global financial and economic crisis also prompted a reinforced economic agenda with closer EU surveillance, as well as agreement over a range of policy priorities and a set of targets as part of the Europe 2020 strategy. Tighter EU surveillance of economic and fiscal policies has been introduced as part of the stability and growth pact, while new tools to tackle macroeconomic imbalances and a new working method — the European semester — have also been introduced in order to promote discussions concerning economic and budgetary priorities at the same time every year. As part of this method, the European Commission publishes an ‘Annual growth survey’, setting out the broad EU economic priorities for the year to come.
In October 2011, the Council adopted an EU economic governance package of six new legislative acts which entered into force in mid-December 2011. This puts much more emphasis on debt reduction, sets minimum requirements for national budgetary frameworks and installs a new procedure to prevent and correct macroeconomic imbalances including a scoreboard of economic and financial indicators that the European Commission will monitor. These were followed in May 2013 by two Regulations designed to further enhance economic integration and convergence amongst euro area Member States:
- Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 of the European Parliament and Council concerns monitoring and assessing draft budgetary plans and relates to the excessive deficit procedure;
- Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and Council strengthens economic and budgetary surveillance for Member States experiencing or threatened with severe difficulties with respect to their financial stability.
These regulations create a framework based on a graduated approach, with surveillance requirements for a wide range of budgetary situations, to ensure a seamless continuity of policy monitoring.
In January 2015, the European Commission adopted a Communication on making the best use of the flexibility within the existing rules of the Stability and Growth Pact (COM(2015) 12). This Communication aims to strengthen the link between investment, structural reforms and fiscal responsibility.
The European Commission’s priorities
In 2014, the European Commission set out a list of 10 key priorities, which would be the focus of its 2015 work programme. Three of these were of particular relevance for economic statistics, namely: the top priority to boost jobs, growth and investment; the EU’s internal market; and economic and monetary union.
It is envisaged that the European Commission’s jobs, growth and investment package will focus on cutting regulation, making smarter use of existing financial resources and making flexible use of public funds in order to provide up to EUR 300 billion in additional private and public investment over three years. This investment should be targeted towards: infrastructure; education, research and innovation; renewable energy and energy efficiency; youth employment.
The internal market is seen as the best asset for meeting the challenges of globalisation. Strengthening the industrial base of the economy in the EU — by bringing industry’s share of GDP in the EU back to 20 % by 2020 — is intended to ensure that Europe maintains its global leadership in strategic sectors with high value jobs. Among the objectives for this priority is creating a capital markets union, intended to make it easier for small businesses to raise money and make Europe a more attractive place for investment.
Completing Europe’s economic and monetary union
Concerning economic and monetary union, the European Commission’s objectives are to: make decisions about support for struggling euro area countries more democratically legitimate; evaluate support and reform programmes not only for financial sustainability but also for their impact on citizens; review the fiscal and macroeconomic surveillance legislation and budgetary rules; encourage further structural reforms in euro area countries.
Delivering a deeper and fairer economic and monetary union was one of the priorities and in June 2015 a report by the presidents of the European Council, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Eurogroup was presented providing a plan how to achieve this. The report foresees starting with existing instruments and the current Treaties to boost competitiveness and structural convergence, achieve responsible fiscal policies nationally and for the euro area, complete the Financial Union and enhance democratic accountability. In a later stage more far-reaching actions would be launched to make the convergence process more binding, for example through a set of commonly agreed benchmarks for convergence which would be of legal nature; establishing a euro area treasury. The aim is to achieve by 2025 a deep and genuine union. The report identifies four areas for progress: economic union, financial union to guarantee the integrity of the euro, fiscal union to deliver sustainability and stabilisation, and political union as a foundation through democratic accountability, legitimacy and strengthened institutions.
In October 2015 the European Commission presented a Communication (COM(2015) 600 final) outlining steps towards completing the EMU. The Communication and its accompanying proposals include: a revised approach to the European Semester; the introduction of national Competitiveness Boards and an advisory European Fiscal Board; a more unified representation of the euro area in international financial institutions; and steps towards a financial union.
See also
All articles on economy and finance
Further Eurostat information
Main tables
- Annual national accounts (t_nama) and quarterly national accounts (t_namq)
- Annual sector accounts (t_nasa)
- Balance of payments — International transactions(t_bop)
- Exchange rates (t_ert)
- Government statistics (t_gov)
- Harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) (t_prc_hicp)
- Interest rates (t_irt)
Database
- Annual national accounts (nama_10) and quarterly national accounts (namq_10)
- Annual sector accounts (ESA 2010) (nasa_10) and Quarterly sector accounts (ESA 2010) (nasq_10)
- Balance of payments — International transactions (bop)
- Supply, use and input-output tables — ESA 2010 — current prices (naio_10_cp)
- Supply, use and input-output tables — European system of accounts ESA 2010 — previous year's prices (naio_10_pyp)
- Exchange rates (ert)
- Government statistics (gov)
- Harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) (prc_hicp)
- Interest rates (irt)
- Purchasing power parities (prc_ppp)
Dedicated sections
- Balance of payments
- ESA Supply, Use and Input-Output tables
- European sector accounts
- Exchange rates
- Government finance and EDP statistics
- Harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP)
- Interest rates
- National accounts (including GDP)
- Purchasing power parities (PPPs)