The European Semester increasingly relies on Member States’ ability to implement reforms and investments. Delays often stem not from a lack of funding or policy guidance, but from administrative bottlenecks, limited technical expertise, excessive red tape, complex procedures or insufficient coordination across different levels of national government. The thematic debate will therefore examine how the European Semester could better assess and monitor administrative capacity at national level, as well as whether administrative reform should become a more prominent element in the country-specific recommendations. It will also examine what lessons can be drawn from the implementation of the national recovery and resilience plans, whether instruments such as the Technical Support Instrument could play a stronger role in supporting reforms. Finally, the aim will be to understand how these instruments can contribute, in the long term, to strengthening the capacity building of national administrations and stakeholders.
Together the Information Report ECO/711 and the Resolution ECO/712 are a continuation of the European Semester Group's (ESG) work to consult annually national economic and social councils, social partners and civil society organisations from EU Member States on reform and investment proposals made in the context of the European Semester and their implementation in the Member States.
The Information Report aims to collect the views of social partners and civil society organisations in the Member States on the reform and investment proposals and their implementation, in particular those indicated in the 2026 Country-Specific Recommendations.
European Semester 2026: Driving competitiveness, sustainable growth and social resilience in a strategic budgetary framework
Location
online event
Belgium
The EESC’s European Semester Group is bringing together speakers from the EU institutions, organised civil society, the Member States and research institutes for its annual conferenceto be held on Tuesday 30 June 2026.
Download — Information report: The point of view of organised civil society in the EU Member States on national reform and investment proposals and their implementation (2025-2026 European Semester cycle)
The EESC regrets, that the Commission has once again refrained from presenting the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey (ASGS) and stresses that sustainable economic growth is a necessary condition for Europe to meet its multiple commitments, welcomes the European Macroeconomic Report, which provides a deep dive into the underlying structural challenges facing the EU and the new recommendation on human capital, which is a crucial element in filling the EU technological gap, also taking into account the EU demographic challenge. The Committee reiterates its call for more robust commonfiscal capacity, supported by targeted issuances of joint debt, to help fill this growing gap in public investment, and for permanent macroeconomic stabilisation instruments to address shocks.
Download — Γνωμοδότηση της ΕΟΚΕ: 2026 European Semester – Autumn Package
The EESC expresses concerns over rising geopolitical risks, unstable trade dynamics, and the investment deficit in Europe, stressing the need to strengthen EU competitiveness and enhance defence capabilities. The Committee also believes that it is necessary to adopt a set of measures to strengthen investment by ensuring the implementation of all Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds, with the new targets and, if necessary, deploying unused funds for new investment programmes in European public goods, creating a European Fund for Strategic Investment, strengthening the EIB's lending capacity to expand InvestEU and exploring the possibility of using European Stability Mechanism funds.
With the launch of the 2025 European Semester cycle the European commission has published the "2025 European Semester - Autumn package" in December 2024. The 2025 European Semester - Autumn Package outlines economic and social policy priorities for the EU to ensure sustainable prosperity and competitiveness. It highlights the EU’s recent resilience while emphasizing the need to address structural barriers to growth. The EU is committed to ensure sustainable prosperity and competitiveness while strengthening its social market economy and safeguarding its sovereignty, economic security and global influence. The EESC's opinion on the 2025 European Semester - Autumn package is due to be adopted at the EESC plenary session of February 2025.
