Today, the Council adopted its recommendations on the economic, social, employment, structural and budgetary policies of each member state, part of the 2026 European semester process.
This year, the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) place particular emphasis on competitiveness, energy security, economic security, defence readiness and social fairness.
In that vein, member states are encouraged to advance key priorities in support of competitiveness, ensure swift implementation of cohesion policy funds and continue with reforms and investments supported under the recovery and resilience facility.
Other, more fiscal recommendations focus on member states’ paths towards achieving or maintaining healthy public finances, and prudent implementation of energy-related measures within the limits of the EU’s economic governance rules.
Macroeconomic imbalance procedure
Also under the European semester, the Council today approved conclusions on the 2026 in-depth reviews under the macroeconomic imbalance procedure (MIP). This procedure aims to identify, prevent and address the emergence of potentially harmful macroeconomic imbalances that could adversely affect economic stability in a particular member state, the euro area, or the EU as a whole.
Background
Introduced in 2011, the European Semester enables the EU member states to coordinate their economic, fiscal and employment policies throughout the year in order to collectively address the economic challenges facing the EU.
The Commission presents each country with a set of draft country-specific recommendations on their economic, social, employment, structural and budgetary policies, providing policy guidance on how to boost jobs and growth, while maintaining sound public finances.
On this basis, the Council then adopts country-specific recommendations and provides explanations in cases where it does not follow the Commission’s recommendations.