The reform and investment proposals as part of the 2024-2025 European Semester cycle

The EESC adopted an opinion calling for a more people-focused and a more participatory European Semester and economic governance framework. It urges decisions at national and EU levels to reflect real needs through structured dialogue and closer involvement of organised civil society. Building on its role in the European Semester, and complemented by an information report with national input, the EESC offers policy recommendations to strengthen reform and investment, democratic legitimacy and EU crisis response. It focuses on reform and investment measures in the Member States, particularly those based on the 2024 Country-Specific Recommendations, the medium-term fiscal-structural plans, and the ongoing implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plans.

Key points

In the opinion, the EESC

• Calls for structured consultation process to be established at European level and meaningful involvement of civil society and social partners in economic policymaking, aiming to boost legitimacy, trust, and ownership across the EU.
• Insists that Member States must implement Country-Specific Recommendations more effectively and speed up the implementation of Recovery and Resilience Plans, with better planning, coordination, transparency, and administrative capacity.
• Urges coordinated public and private investment, Strategic Investment Fund to boost the EU's financing capacity and stresses the need to rapidly increase a massive mobilisation of private savings through the completion of the Capital Markets Union and to increase the EIB’s financial capacity.

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Additional information

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

Opinion type: Own-initiative opinion

Rapporteur: Konstantinos DIAMANTOUROS (Employers - GR I/Greece), Javier DOZ ORRIT (Workers - GR II/Spain), Luca JAHIER (Civil Society Organisations - GR III/Italy)

Reference: ECO/652-EESC-2024

Date of adoption by section: 15/4/2025

Date of adoption in plenary: 29-30/4/2025

Contact

Thomas Kersten

Press Officer

Tel.: +32 (0) 2 546 8931

Email: thomas.kersten@eesc.europa.eu

Anna Pantazi

Policy Officer

Tel.: +32 (0) 25469231

Email: eco@eesc.europa.eu