Europe 2020 and Macro-Regional Europe: Coping with the Prospect of Differentiation in the EU
Europe 2020 and Macro-Regional Europe: Coping with the Prospect of Differentiation in the EU

Author(s): Stefan Gänzle, Kristine Kern
Subject(s): Geopolitics
Published by: Kossuth Kiadó Zt.
Summary/Abstract: In early March 2010, in the immediate aftermath of the global financial and economic crisis, the European Commission presented ‘EUROPE 2020’, a concept prompting a ten-year strategic vision for Europe’s social market economy in 21st century. In a nutshell, this document seeks to “turn the EU into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy delivering high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion” (European Commission, 2010a:3). Although it was met with some ambivalence and reluctance from several EU member states’ governments (see other contributions in this volume), the strategic goals of the initiative were eventually endorsed by the European Council in June 2010. In order to boost economic growth and employment in the EU, the Commission identified, amongst other targets, investments in Research & Development (R&D) as well as renewable energy as of paramount importance. The strategy identified several flagship projects that would ultimately be used to show-case progress achieved along the lines of the main targets. Furthermore, it put on stage a so-called ‘European Semester’, an annual cycle of macro-economic, budgetary and structural policy coordination providing the Commission with a strong role in defining the priorities, setting the agenda and monitoring progress towards to agreed goals whereas the member states would assume responsibility for policy implementation and at the same time perform overall gate-keeping functions.

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