Parliament will debate and vote on the priorities for this year’s so-called “European Semester”, the EU’s mechanism for the surveillance and coordination of economic and employment policies across member states. MEPs are expected to urge EU countries to better coordinate their economic and fiscal policies and to use the opportunities offered by the EU’s recovery funds to modernise their economies.

The European Semester is the EU's annual cycle of economic policy guidance and surveillance. It provides a framework for the coordination of economic policies across the EU. It allows EU countries to discuss their economic and budget plans and monitor progress at specific times throughout the year. During its 2022 cycle, the European Semester resumes its broad economic and employment policy coordination, while further adapting in line with the implementation requirements of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Member States are expected to submit National reform programmes and stability/convergence programmes, setting out their economic and fiscal policy plans, as in previous European Semester cycles in April. The main novelty in the 2022 cycle will be that the national reform programme (NRP) will play a dual role. Besides its role for the European Semester, the NRP will also fulfil one of the two bi-annual reporting requirements of Member States under the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Together with the country reports in May 2022, the Commission will propose to the Council to adopt country-specific recommendations (CSRs). The CSRs will address the key issues identified in the country reports. The country reports, the in-depth reviews and the proposals for CSRs will form part of the 2022 European Semester Spring package.