In the context of the European Semester cycle, the European Commission has now published its Country-Specific Recommendations for 2017 (CSRs). Each year, EU Member States receive a set of Country-Specific Recommendations from the European Commission, encouraging specific structural reforms in a broad range of areas ranging from fiscal policy to Roma inclusion. The number of CSRs has been reduced to three per country in order to increase chances of implementation; however, as the Commission’s Press Release notes, progress is still limited for most policy areas identified in the 2016 CSRs. The clearest progress has been achieved in the areas of fiscal consolidation and active labour market policies, rather than in the area of poverty reduction.

This year, like last year, 11 countries have received a Country-Specific Recommendation related to poverty reduction. A more in-depth analysis of the 2017 CSRs will follow in the 6th edition of Eurodiaconia’s European Semester Quarterly, which will be published at the end of June. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact the Eurodiaconia secretariat with any questions or comments.

To find out the progress achieved by your country, check the Country-Specific Recommendations for 2017.

To find out more about the European Semester process, please have a look at our online toolkit and at previous editions of the European Semester Quarterly.