Structural Reforms: A European Perspective

The resilience of the EU Member States to the onslaught of the 2008 financial crisis depends not only on the countries? ex ante budgetary position, but also on the strength of the structural policy framework. While the Member States with a good track record of structural reforms have not been able to avoid the impact of the crisis, they appear to be recovering more rapidly than countries with a poor record. Looking forward, the Europe 2020 strategy provides a new framework for structural reforms in the European Union: it builds on the lessons learned from the Lisbon strategy, recognising its strengths (the right goals of growth and job creation) but addressing its weaknesses (problem of governance, poor implementation, with big differences between EU countries in the speed and depth of reform). Nevertheless, the perception of only limited change in comparison with the Lisbon strategy is widespread. The paper offers some ideas on how to further strengthen implementation of needed reforms: first, a better monitoring of the reform effort through the systematic collection of data measuring the extent of reforms undertaken; second, sound and convincing analysis illustrating the net gains derived from the reforms undertaken; and third, a better monitoring of EU product markets and sectors, which could provide a more rigorous basis for regulatory reform proposals.