Indicators from various areas, such as national accounts, government finance, exchange rates and interest rates, consumer prices, and the balance of payments support analysis of the economic situation. These indicators are also used in the design, implementation and monitoring of the European Union’s (EU’s) policies.
The EU is active in a wide range of policy areas, but economic policies have traditionally played a dominant role. Starting from a rather narrow focus on 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 a multitude of domains.
Since 1993, 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 17 countries by 2011.
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 to follow up the 2000 Lisbon strategy. Its declared objective is to overcome the effects of the 2008 financial and economic crisis and prepare the EU’s economy for the next decade; integrated economic and employment guidelines have been revised within the context of this new strategy.
Following actions to stabilise the financial system and the economy, the recent 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 macro-economic 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.
In October 2011, the Council adopted an EU economic governance package of six new legislative acts that comes into force by the end of 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 macro-economic imbalances including a scoreboard of economic and financial indicators that the European Commission will monitor.
Further Eurostat information
Dedicated sections
- Balance of payments
- ESA 95 Supply Use and Input-Output tables
- European sector accounts
- Exchange rates
- Financial accounts
- Government finance statistics
- Harmonised Indices of Consumer Prices (HICP)
- Interest rates
- Monetary and other financial statistics
- National accounts (including GDP)
- Purchasing power parities (PPPs)