Additional considerations on the way forward for the European Semester 2025 Own-initiative opinion

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)'s ECO section has adopted an own-initiative opinion on additional considerations on the way forward for the European Semester in 2025. The Committee stresses that the Semester must respond to mounting geopolitical risks, weak growth prospects and the large investment gap. It calls for a more balanced strategy that combines competitiveness and defence priorities with stronger social cohesion, sustainable finance, and structured civil society involvement.

Key points

In the opinion, ECO recommends:

• Expanding the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) to 2% of EU GDP and mobilising all available instruments (RRF, InvestEU, EIB, ESM) to close the EU’s investment deficit in green, digital, social and strategic sectors.
• Developing a moderately expansionary monetary policy once inflation is under control and strengthening the role of euro as a global reserve currency by introducing the digital euro, using the stock of EU debt and completing the capital markets and banking union.
• Ensuring permanent and structured involvement of social partners and civil society organisations in the European Semester, while protecting sustainable finance rules, social spending and cohesion against excessive fiscal consolidation or defence-driven imbalances.

Additional information

EESC section: Economic and Monetary Union and Economic and Social Cohesion (ECO)

Opinion type: Own-initiative opinion

Rapporteur: Javier DOZ ORRIT (Workers – GR II, Spain)

Reference: ECO/674-EESC-2025

Date of adoption by section: 5/9/2025

Date of adoption in plenary: 17-18/09/2025

Contact

Thomas Kersten

Press Officer

Email: thomas.kersten@eesc.europa.eu

Anna Pantazi

Policy Officer

Email: eco@eesc.europa.eu