Abstract
The European Semester (Semester) was implemented a decade ago. Ample research has addressed the Semester’s development, including some major changes in processes and content (Verdun & Zeitlin, 2018). The Covid-19 crisis seems to mark the next stage in the evolution of the Semester. It connects the Semester with the wider Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and links its country-specific recommendations to conditional financial support. Thus, the next stage of the Semester suggests a stronger and more deliberate interlinkage of different EU tools that jointly guide national socioeconomic policies. It should support both national public investment and reforms while focusing on meeting the EU priority of moving towards a climate-neutral, digitalized, and resilient Europe (De la Porte & Dagnis Jensen, 2021). This article addresses the question of what room the new-style Semester gives to the involvement of national-level actors, such as national parliaments. Therefore, it expands existing analytical frameworks in order to assess the RRF in connection to the Semester, focusing on the degree of obligation, enforcement, and centralisation. Jointly, this outlines the room the RRF gives to the participation of national actors in the Semester. The article concludes that although the national parliaments are not mentioned in the Regulation establishing the RRF, they could claim a role both in developing national plans for accessing financial support as well as in amending and approving reforms.
Highlights
This article deals with the stage in the evolution of the European Semester (Semester) which is marked by its interlinkage with the Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF)
Financial support is given if national recovery and resilience plans (NRRPs) meet the predefined topics of the Regulation establishing the RRF, including reform suggestions com‐ municated via the country‐specific rec‐ ommendations (CSRs)
This article analyses the degree of obligation, enforcement, and centralisation of the Regulation establishing the RRF
Summary
This article deals with the stage in the evolution of the European Semester (Semester) which is marked by its interlinkage with the Resilience and Recovery Facility (RRF). Tying the Semester to a new EU instru‐ ment, among others, adds conditional financial support as a new way to drive national reforms. This article assesses the room the Regulation establishing the RRF (EU, 2021) leaves for national actors, in order to influ‐ ence the design and implementation of reforms, includ‐ ing reforms as suggested by the Semester’s coordination practices. It summarises the developments in the first decade of the Semester’s existence, emphasising its ability to adapt to new and country‐specific goals as well as its (growing) practice of including actors across governance levels in the different stages of policymak‐ ing.
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