1. Regional Policy European Semester / 2013 CSRs and Period 2014-2020 John WALSH DG Regional and Urban Policy Brussels, 11 March 2014 1 Cohesion Policy

2. Regional Policy What is the European Semester? A cycle of EU assessment and input to integrated economic policy making. Timetable: November 2013 – Annual Growth Survey 2014 - April 2014 – revised National Reform Programmes End May – Commission adopts Country specific Staff Working documents & draft recommendations End June – Council adoption of CSRs 2

3. Regional Policy 3 Macroeconomic policy & Budget Consolidation Structural reforms Structural reforms Growth support & investment Growth support & investment European Semester Interdependence of economic policies EUROPE 2020 Strategy

4. Regional Policy ESIF alignment to EUROPE 2020 The Funds are governed by the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR) which provides for A "Partnership Agreement" at national level Alignment to EUROPE 2020 through "Thematic Objectives" (TOs) Ex-ante conditionalities Macro economic conditionality Importance of CSRs in initial programming Future CSRs may trigger reprogramming requests by Commission Fund specific regulations translate TOs into fund specific contexts and define concentration of resources on themes Commission position papers 2012 provided Commission input to PA/OP preparatory phase.

5. Regional Policy 5 Macroeconomic policy & Budget Consolidation Structural reforms Structural reforms Growth support & investment Growth support & investment Macro-economic conditionality Preserve growth friendly expenditures Ex-ante conditionalities Capacity building European Semester – Inter dependence of economic policies (2014-2020) EuropeanSemesterCountry-specificrecommendations

6. Regional Policy Nature of CSRs (1) Recommendations for policy reforms in the each specific Member State. Policy Scope: Fiscal policy and taxation Financial sector Structural measures promoting sustainable growth and competitiveness Modernisation of public administration Labour market, education and social policies 6

7. Regional Policy Commission 2013 Synthesis 7

8. Regional Policy Nature of CSRs (2) CSRs are annual but usually address medium or long term challenges. There are issues of Choosing the priorities amongst recommendations Composite CSRs dealing with multiple "themes" Level of detail of recommendations Continuity year on year Consistency across Member States 8

9. Regional Policy "Investment relevant" CSRs 2013 Relevance of CSRs is sometimes only understood knowing the Comm analysis (SWD) and investment history. 18 Member States have approx 48 CSRs judged relevant 10 Member States have no REGIO relevant CSRs in 2013 o 4 programme countries - EL, PT, IE, CY o 4 RCE Member States – AT, BE, DK, SE o HR, SI 9

10. Regional Policy Main scope of "REGIO" CSRs 11 CSRs concern energy networks, renewables and energy efficiency 9 concern R&D and Innovation 6 concern administrative capacity five refer directly to capacity for SF absorption – BG, CZ, IT, SK, RO 5 concern Poverty, social inclusion, childcare, Roma inclusion 4 refer to access to finance for SMEs 3 refer to Broadband networks 3 refer to Transport networks 10

11. Regional Policy Reference Documents EUROPE 2020 documents: LINKLINK ESIF regulations: LINKLINK 2012 Commission position papers: LINKLINK Questions ? Thank You !! 11