Two timing-related innovations
The Semester:
1) synchronised the calendars of economic and fiscal policy reporting and evaluation at the EU level
Member states submit their national reform programmes (which include structural reform plans) and the stability and convergence programmes (fiscal plans) at the same time, in April each year.
The Commission evaluates them both at the same time too. In parallel, an assessment of macroeconomic imbalances is carried out.
This way the EU member states intend to achieve two goals:
- better alignment of their reform and budgetary goals
- more effective pursuit of their common EU-level goals
2) changed the coordination of national economic policies from ex-post to ex-ante
Under the Semester the member states submit their budgetary and reform plans in the early stages of their national budgetary processes. The Council issues recommendations for member states' plans before their budgets are presented to national parliaments.
In the past, the member states coordinated their policy plans at the beginning of the year in question, after the adoption of national budgets.
With such a shift of the timing of the EU policy coordination, the Semester provides timely input for the member states in early stages of their national policy planning.