A new framework for fiscal policycoordination is needed The fiscal policy stance is expected to be broadly neutral (that is, neither expanding nor contracting) in 2018 but nevertheless somewhat more expansionary than in 2017 in both the euro area and the EU (see Figure 1.21). This fiscal stance... Find out more

Decoupling greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from GDP growth: a net zero-carbon economy by 2050 is still possible without giving up economic growth In December 2018, 196 countries and the European Union signed up to the ‘Katowice Climate Package’ to operationalise the climate change regime set out by... Find out more

An asymmetric rebalancing ofcurrent account imbalances In 2018, the current account surplus of the euro area with the rest of the world as a share of GDP is expected to slightly decline to 3.7% of GDP (or 444 billion euros), from 3.8% of GDP in 2017 and following its continuous increase since 2008... Find out more

Investment growth is too weak to compensate for lost years Investment (gross fixed capital formation) growth in the EU as a whole has been positive, albeit weaker than inprevious recoveries. Since 2013, its average annual growth rates for the EU (2.8%) and the euro area (2.9%) have been somewhat... Find out more

Several factors have been underpinning the relatively modest (compared to the length of the stagnation period) recovery in the European economy and the increases in income inequality. In what follows, we examine the components of aggregate demand and some of the developments that have been driving... Find out more

During the recent crisis, we not only observed a slowdown/negative turn in output growth rates but also a more unequal distribution of income within several MemberS tates. Increasing income inequality has been a longer term phenomenon dating back a few decades. Apart from its negative repercussions... Find out more

Slowdown in labour productivity growth Labour productivity growth, measured as real output per hour worked, slowed down in 2008–2017 compared to 2000–2007 (see Figure 1.7 above) in all but three EU Member States (Ireland, Malta and Spain). While in several countries it is expected to accelerate in... Find out more

Slowdown in average annual growth rates of potential GDP During the Great Recession, the vast majority of the EU Member States not only suffered drops in the growth rate of their actually produced GDP but also in the growth rate of the GDP that their economies can potentially produce. A slower... Find out more

One of the objectives of the European economic integrationproject, as it is laid out in Treaty texts but also infundamental policy programmes such as the cohesionand regional policies, has been the reduction of economicand social disparities among its Member States. This hasbeen a particularly... Find out more

Uneven developments in average living standards in Member States Figure 1.2 shows for each Member State, the EU28, the EU15 and the euro area, the forecasted real GDP per capita growth rate for 2018 and compares it with the average annual real output per capita growth rates for the 2008– 2012 and... Find out more