Abstract
The Europe 2020 Strategy is under mid-term review. This paper looks at the Strategy’s objectives and the means to achieve them, considering the new socio-economic reality that has emerged from the crisis along with new data on employment and social inclusion (or exclusion). It argues that any future strategy should address, at the same time, innovative ways to: (i) enhance potential growth from a lowered post-crisis level; (ii) improve finance for growth given tight budgetary constraints and high levels of public and private debt; and (iii) ensure social and environmental sustainability. The paper contains suggestions for a new approach to Europe 2020 and considers possible structural reforms to enhance growth and employment, compatible with environmental and social goals. Moreover, it discusses the need for some ‘good imbalances’ as by-products of economic and financial integration and includes a few remarks on the current policy mix, which appears suboptimal, and as a necessary ingredient to strengthen the reform process.
The article was written when the author was working for the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. This paper was first presented at the Asia Europe Economic Forum on “Asia and Europe in Times of Global Change” held in Berlin on 15–16 May, 2014 and then at the round table on “Revitalising Anaemic Europe” at the XXVI Villa Mondragone International Economic Seminar, Rome, July 3, 2014.
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Notes
- 1.
In 2014, within the macroeconomic imbalance procedure, in-depth analyses were performed by the Commission for 17 Member States, 14 of which were deemed to be experiencing imbalances of some degree. On the fiscal front, “while the large consolidation efforts over the past years are now bearing fruit […] only two Member States have attained their Medium Term Objectives in terms of structural balance, implying that further consolidation will be necessary.” Commission for 17 Member States, 14 of which were deemed to be experiencing imbalances of some degree. On the fiscal front, “while the large consolidation efforts over the past years are now bearing fruit […] only two Member States have attained their Medium Term Objectives in terms of structural balance, implying that further consolidation will be necessary.”
- 2.
For a discussion about targets see Codogno et al. (2009).
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Europe 2020 Background (Table 1).
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Codogno, L. (2015). Revitalising Europe’s Economy: Towards Growth. In: Paganetto, L. (eds) Achieving Dynamism in an Anaemic Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14099-5_9
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