BUSINESSEUROPE Reform Barometer 2020 - After crisis response, reforms will be needed to return to growth trajectory
The 2020 BUSINESSEUROPE Reform Barometer was published on 25 March. At this time the immediate economic priority for the EU and its member states was to provide coordinated response to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Nevertheless, as we move from acute crisis management initiatives to the longer-term task of restarting growth and rebuilding our economy, it will be important that we focus on reforms that will unlock Europe’s economic potentials.
The Reform Barometer shows the need for the EU to improve its competitiveness, as it is lagging behind other major economies on a range of key areas, and sets out our contribution to how policy-makers can put in place reforms to strengthen our competitiveness and rekindle economic growth. The report in particular considers Europe’s competitive position across three domains, reflecting BUSINESSEUROPE’s overall strategy document for the new EU institutional cycle, “Prosperity, People, Planet”:
- Prosperity is key to delivering the EU’s broader social and environmental goals, with a strong economy in turn dependent upon a supportive business environment able to attract investment and support innovation.
- People, and in particularly their skills, are increasingly essential to success in an increasingly knowledge-based global economy.
- The planet is the finite resource upon which our prosperity is based, and while European companies are leading the way in delivering sustainable solutions, they will need an EU policy framework that supports their competitiveness to be successful.
Against this background it is concerning that, according to our survey of member federations, the impetus for economic reform has been dented. Our member federations estimate that countries have satisfactorily implemented only 13 % of the reforms agreed in the European Semester process, down from 20% last year.
Detailed assessments by national member federations of progress on the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) issued by the European Commission can be downloaded below.
Download the full list of country evaluations.