ECONOMIC RECOMMENDATIONS : MEMBER STATES URGED TO CONTINUE REFORMS DESPITE CRISIS.

The European Commission has invited four countries, whose situation has particularly deteriorated - Ireland, Lithuania, the United Kingdom and Slovenia - to take swift measures in budgetary and fiscal terms. But, for the remainder, the recommendations per country, which it adopted on 28 January in the framework of the Lisbon Growth and Jobs Strategy, are selective and relate to the areas that each member state should address with the highest priority.

Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso explained that, besides the targeted fiscal stimulus that will provide short-term measures to fight the crisis, "we need a comprehensive medium-term fitness plan and the Lisbon strategy provides that [...] Member states must agree and implement the much-needed structural reforms set out in today's recommendations, to pave the way for a gradual but lasting return to creating growth and jobs".

Proposals for formal recommendations, included in each of the country chapters, must be endorsed by the European Council of 19-20 March and, subsequently, formally approved by the Ecofin Council. The Commission has also adopted reports on the overall implementation of the Lisbon strategy in the macro and microeconomic and employment fields.

The country chapters reflect the impact of the financial crisis on the real economy, says the Commission. While the picture that emerges is sobering, there are some positive points. All member states are taking constructive action to counter the crisis. In the microeconomic area, for example, most are introducing measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises seize the opportunities offered by the low-carbon, low-resource use economy and to facilitate their access to financing.

NATIONAL RECOVERY PLANS

This annual exercise is, this time, in line with the current economic crisis and aims in particular to ensure the correct application of the European recovery plan adopted in December 2008 (see separate article). aIt is...

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