NA-AD-13-001-EN-N ISSN 1977-3374 GENERAL REPORT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2012 UNION EUROPEAN THE OF ACTIVITIES THE ON REPORT GENERAL 2012 General Report on the Activities of the European Union doi:10.2775/90915 EN The European Union 0 500 km Açores (PT) Reykjavík Ísland Madeira (PT) Canarias (ES) Guadeloupe (FR) Martinique (FR) Suomi Paramaribo Finland Guyane Norge Suriname Réunion (FR) (FR) Helsinki Brasil Helsingfors Oslo Sverige Stockholm Tallinn Rossija Eesti Moskva United Kingdom Rīga Latvija Danmark Baile Átha Cliath Éire København Dublin Lietuva Ireland Vilnius R. 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Shqipëria Ankara Türkiye Ελλάδα Ellada Αθήναι Athinai Alger Souriya Rabat Tunis Λευκωσία Κύπρος Lefkosia Iraq El Maghreb Lefkosa General Report on the Activities of the European Union — 2012 El Djazâir Valletta Kypros Tounis Malta Kibris Libnan European Commission Beyrouth Dimashq Directorate-General for Communication Member States of the European Union (2012) Publications Candidate and potential candidate countries 1049 Brussels BELGIUM The General Report on the Activities of the European Union — 2012 was adopted by the European Commission on 28 January 2013 under reference number COM(2013) 19. http://europa.eu/generalreport/index_en.htm Cover illustration: © Plantu 2012 2013 — pp. 220 — 21 × 29.7 cm ISBN 978-92-79-26651-5 (print) ISSN 1608-7321 (print) doi:10.2775/90060 (print) ISBN 978-92-79-26603-4 (PDF) ISSN 1977-3374 (online) doi:10.2775/90915 (PDF) ISBN 978-92-79-26625-6 (EPUB) doi:10.2775/91853 (EPUB) Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2013 © European Union, 2013 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 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Printed in Luxembourg 2012 General Report on the Activities of the European Union CONTENTS FOREWORD 4 CHAPTER 1 TOWARDS POLITICAL UNION 7 Nobel Peace Prize 2012 9 Towards strengthened economic and monetary union and political union 13 The debate on the future of Europe 18 CHAPTER 2 STRENGTHENING ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE AND FINANCIAL STABILITY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 23 Strengthening the EMU architecture 25 Reinforcing Europe’s growth agenda 30 Financial sector reform: investing in confidence 38 Financing the future: securing sustainable public revenue through improved tax policy coordination 47 CHAPTER 3 STRONGER GROWTH 51 EU policies for growth — Europe 2020 53 An open and fair internal market 74 The contribution of trade to economic growth 84 Agricultural policy and fisheries and maritime policies 86 Budget 91 CHAPTER 4 A STRONGER FOCUS ON EU CITIZENS 97 Fundamental rights and citizenship 99 Justice 107 Home affairs 109 Easing citizens’ everyday concerns 118 CHAPTER 5 A STRONGER EU IN THE WORLD 139 The European neighbourhood 141 Strategic partnerships 145 Human rights and democracy 149 Multilateral governance and global challenges 151 Peace and security 159 Enlargement 162 Regional policies and development 167 CHAPTER 6 THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS AND BODIES AT WORK 183 The European Parliament 185 The European Council 197 The Council of the European Union 198 The European Commission 199 The Court of Justice of the European Union: some landmark rulings 201 The European Central Bank 204 The European Court of Auditors 206 The European Economic and Social Committee 207 The Committee of the Regions of the European Union 208 The European Investment Bank 209 The European Ombudsman 210 Decentralised agencies 211 National parliaments and their role on the European scene 212 Transparency 213 CHRONOLOGY OF THE EU’s RESPONSE TO THE DEBT CRISIS 215 4 FOREWORD We can take pride in the manner in which the European Commission met the challenges facing Europe in 2012. The year started in difficult circumstances. There was declining confidence in the euro, economic growth was ebbing away and most importantly the belief of our citizens in Europe’s capacity to fix its problems stood at an all-time low. Over the last year the European Commission has done its utmost to meet these challenges head on. Euro area countries in need have received the necessary support as they put their budgets in order and tackle deep-rooted structural problems. They are doing so with determination and resolve and the results are already beginning to be seen. We have not simply established a system of economic governance at the European level, we have seen it deliver in practice by providing a framework for reforms at the European and national levels. © European Union We have worked to ensure that fiscal consolidation and smart investment go hand in hand. Our proposal for the European Union budget, the multiannual financial framework, is a European budget for investment, growth and job creation. It is designed to complement national budgets and bring added value to the European Union as a whole. Globally, the European Union is leading the way in implementing new and more responsible rules for the financial sector, and with the European Council’s agreement on the European Commission’s proposal for a single supervisory mechanism we have laid one of the foundation stones of a genuine European banking union, which is necessary to prevent governments having to prop up irresponsible banks in the future, to the detriment of their own budgets. This ambitious work inside the European Union is starting to bring results, with financial markets regaining confidence and investors starting to return to economies which had been in difficulty. Just as importantly, Europe’s place in the world was strengthened by our policies and actions over the past year. Europe’s capacity to engage in diplomacy, participate in multilateral forums and provide assistance to those in need demonstrated our values in action in so many practical ways. We were at the forefront of global efforts to face our common challenges: sustainable development and climate change. We set the agenda at Rio+20 and again in Doha, and even if we did not achieve all our objectives, we have moved the debate forward and will continue to do so. 5 No review of our activities in 2012 would be complete without recalling the singular honour bestowed on the European Union when it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Prize is recognition of 60 years of achievement in bringing peace, justice and democracy to our continent. It is also the spur to work even harder in the future to build on this achievement. Inside the European Union we must continue to combat the crisis, especially its social impact, and build a stronger Europe, globally competitive and based on inclusive, sustainable growth. By adopting our blueprint on how to complete economic and monetary union we have laid out a long-term vision as well as the concrete steps that need to be taken in the short and the medium term. Before the next elections for the European Parliament we will come forward with our explicit ideas for treaty change, setting out the objectives to be pursued, the way to make the European Union more integrated, more open, more democratic and more effective, and the model to make it a Union for the citizens of Europe. Now is the time to start the fundamental debate on how the European Union must evolve, both in the economic and in the political sense. Globally too there is much work to be done, both to meet Europe’s commitments and also to help others meet their obligations as we work to shape our common destiny. The General Report on the Activities of the European Union — 2012 gives a great overview of all that we have achieved over the past year and a glimpse of what needs to be done in 2013 and beyond. I commend it to readers to deepen their knowledge on the workings of the Union. José Manuel Barroso 1963 Konrad Adenauer, Federal Chancellor of Germany, and Charles de Gaulle, President of France, in Paris, France. 2012 Presidents Van Rompuy, Barroso and Schulz at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. CHAPTER 1 Towards political union Nobel Peace Prize 2012 Towards political union Engaging citizens GENERAL REPORT 2012 CHAPTER 1 Towards POLITICAL UNION One of the most significant highlights of the year was the award of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union for its abiding commitment to peace and the rule of law since its foundation in the aftermath of the two horrific world wars in the 20th century. The year in review was also marked by a renewed debate on the future of the Union, on the completion of economic and monetary union and on how the EU might move towards a deeper political union. This debate was enriched by many contributions, notably the Commission’s blueprint, input from the European Parliament and the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, working closely with colleagues. Following a call from the Commission President José Manuel Barroso in his State of the Union speech, the debate spread beyond the institutional framework to engage directly with the Union’s citizens. 9 Nobel Peace Prize 2012 On 12 October the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union and its forerunners for having contributed for over six decades to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe.