NA-AD-14-001-EN-N ISSN 1977-3374 GENERAL REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2013 UNION EUROPEAN THE OF ACTIVITIES THE ON REPORT GENERAL General Report on the Activities of the European Union 2013 doi:10.2775/85591 EN The European Union General Report on the Activities of the European Union — 2013 Αθήνα European Commission Athína Directorate-General for Communication Publications 1049 Brussels Member States of the European Union (2013) BELGIUM Candidate and potential candidate countries The General Report on the Activities of the European Union — 2013 was adopted by the European Commission on 21 January 2014 under reference number COM(2014) 12. http://europa.eu/general-report/en Cover illustration: © European Central Bank/Robert Metsch 2014 — pp. 232 — 21 × 29.7 cm Print ISBN 978-92-79-34329-2 ISSN 1608-7321 doi:10.2775/67257 PDF ISBN 978-92-79-34380-3 ISSN 1977-3374 doi:10.2775/85591 EPUB ISBN 978-92-79-34403-9 ISSN 1977-3374 doi:10.2775/90608 Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2014 © European Union, 2014 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 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Printed in Luxembourg General Report on the Activities of the European Union 2013 CONTENTS FOREWORD 4 CHAPTER 1 TOWARDS POLITICAL UNION 6 The way to a deep and genuine economic and monetary union 9 A continuing push for integration 10 A debate on the future of Europe 12 Engaging citizens in the debate 13 A new narrative for Europe 15 Preparing for the 2014 European Parliament elections 16 CHAPTER 2 TOWARDS ECONOMIC, FISCAL AND BANKING UNION 18 Enhancing European economic governance and reinforcing Europe’s growth agenda 21 Financial assistance: details of programmes for Ireland, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal 28 Strengthening economic and monetary union for the future 34 A strong financial framework for Europe and a banking union for the euro area 36 Consumer protection in financial services 42 Financing the future: securing sustainable public revenue through improved tax policy coordination 45 CHAPTER 3 TOWARDS ECONOMIC RECOVERY, GROWTH AND JOBS 48 EU policies for growth — Europe 2020 51 An open and fair internal market 73 The contribution of trade to economic growth 95 Agricultural policy, and fisheries and maritime policies 97 Budget 102 CHAPTER 4 TOWARDS A EUROPE OF CITIZENS, RIGHTS, JUSTICE AND SECURITY 114 2013 — The European Year of Citizens 117 Religious and philosophical dialogue 119 Fundamental rights 120 Citizenship 125 Justice 128 Home affairs 133 Easing citizens’ everyday concerns 140 CHAPTER 5 TOWARDS A STRONGER ROLE FOR THE EU IN THE WORLD 150 The European neighbourhood 153 Enlargement 157 Strategic partnerships 161 Regional policies 165 Development 172 Responding to humanitarian crises and emergencies 176 Human rights and democracy 179 Multilateral governance and global challenge 181 Peace and security 188 CHAPTER 6 THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS AND BODIES AT WORK 192 The European Parliament 195 The European Council 206 The Council of the European Union 208 The European Commission 209 The Court of Justice of the European Union 211 The European Central Bank 214 The European Court of Auditors 217 The European Economic and Social Committee 218 The Committee of the Regions of the European Union 219 The European Investment Bank 220 European Ombudsman 221 Decentralised agencies 222 National parliaments and their role on the European scene 223 Transparency 224 CHRONOLOGY 227 4 FOREWORD Five years ago, the global financial crisis started. It became an economic and social crisis as well as a financial one. But Europe has fought back. Since then we have come a long way. In the middle of the storm we had to reinforce our boat. We had to do it together, and we did it together, because no one could say to anyone else ‘your end of the boat is sinking’. Under, at times, most challenging circumstances, we managed to steer ahead when there was a risk of going adrift. © European Union I am proud of the European Commission’s contribution to the crisis response. We met the crisis head-on. We have been at the forefront of developing a creative, innovative, collective and comprehensive European response, based on the case for deeper integration. Laying the foundations of a renewed Union of stability and responsibility, growth and solidarity is a long, complex and at times painful process. But we are making steady progress, at both the European and the national level: progress in tackling excessive sovereign debt, reducing imbalances and strengthening economic governance; in improving financial supervision and bringing about a sustainable banking sector; in implementing the necessary structural reforms and enhancing our competitiveness and employment. We are doing so to maintain and strengthen our European social market economy. We are actively engaged in seeking solutions to the problems facing today’s young generation in order to provide the EU’s citizens with a good future. To this end, we have proposed, negotiated and helped to adopt a new, forward-looking multiannual financial framework. Even if its overall size falls short of the Commis- sion’s initial ambition, it comprises an important increase of the budget for the devel- opment of knowledge and skills, and research and innovation, since we firmly believe that investing in education, training, the digital economy and innovation is the key to unlocking people’s potential and to unleashing Europe’s growth potential. We have pushed the urgent need to tackle youth unemployment to the top of Europe’s political agenda, for example through the youth employment initiative, because Europe cannot afford to lose a generation of young people who are neither employed, nor studying, nor in training or apprenticeships. In 2013, we see that our efforts have started to pay off. For Europe, recovery is within sight. The EU’s economy emerged from recession in the second quarter; overall spreads are coming down; European financial markets have performed well and are underpinned by stronger macroeconomic data. While recognising the progress already made, we should be under no illusions about the task ahead. There is still a lot of work to be done to put our economies firmly back on track, to significantly reverse the trend of unemployment, to ensure a properly functioning economic and monetary union with a stronger social dimension and to enhance our Union’s democratic legitimacy and accountability. The fact is that, in reforming their economies, our Member States have agreed to further pool their sovereignty, and such important and far-reaching new economic and budgetary coordination needs legitimacy and accountability. We will ultimately need to deepen the political union because the solidity of our economic and monetary 5 union will eventually depend on its underlying political and institutional structure. This is true in particular for the euro area. But a more integrated euro area must not be achieved at the cost of what we have all achieved together, from the single market to the four freedoms of people, goods, services and capital. The European Union must remain a project for all its members — a community of equal members. The European Union is stronger as a whole, stronger in keeping the integrity of its single market, of its currency, of its membership and of its institutions. Europe is never as influential in the world and in a better position to advance its interests and promote its values than when it is at its most integrated and speaks with one voice. From our eastern and southern neighbourhoods to the Middle East and South Amer- ica, a strong, united and open Europe remains an indispensable global partner. The world needs a Europe that stands by open economies and fights protectionism; a Europe that seeks cooperative solutions for global problems such as climate change; a Europe that defends the fundamental rights of the most vulnerable people; a Europe that embodies more cohesive regions and open and inclusive societies. A full-grown European Union cannot do without mature, democratic debate. That is why the Commission has taken a wide range of initiatives to encourage a debate on our future, from the dialogues held with the public during the 2013 European Year of Citizens, to our ‘New narrative for Europe’ project, to our recommendation for enhan- cing broad political debate and the truly democratic nature of European Parliament elections. One of the greatest figures of our time, Nelson Mandela, who passed away in Decem- ber 2013, said that ‘The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.’ These words beautifully encapsulate what Europe is about: faith in progress and in human beings. Europe rejects defeatism. It is about the will to act, to shape our destiny, to rise to the challenge over and over again. The General Report on the Activities of the European Union — 2013 gives a compre- hensive overview of all that we have achieved over the last year and a glimpse of the many more hills we will have to climb in 2014 and beyond. José Manuel Barroso CHAPTER 1 Towards political union 8 GENERAL REPORT 2013 — CHAPTER 1 n 2013, Europe started to overcome the financial and economic crisis. The European Union emerged from recession in the second quarter of the year as the reform push began to produce results. The nascent recovery is fragile, and Imajor work is still necessary in order to strengthen it — in particular to bring down high levels of unemployment, especially among young people, and to re- store bank lending to households and companies — but the firm support for the Union and the euro shown by political leaders and the EU institutions, including the European Central Bank (ECB), is starting to bear fruit.