Segnalazioni da DG Ecofin

EU finance ministers welcome conclusions of 2017 Alert Mechanism Report and Annual Growth Survey

Meeting on 26-27 January, EU finance ministers welcomed the Commission's sixth Alert Mechanism Report (AMR), as well as the Annual Growth Survey (AGS) 2017. 

The AMR marks the starting point of the annual round of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure, while the AGS, which sets out broad policy priorities for jobs and growth in the EU and its Member States, marks the starting point of the 2017 European semester. 

Ministers broadly shared the Commission’s AMR analysis. They welcomed the progress made by Member States in correcting their imbalances, but noted that further action is needed to address savings and investment imbalances, as well as elevated levels of indebtedness. 

The Commission will conduct in-depth reviews of recent developments in the 13 Member States where imbalances were identified last year in order to assess whether the imbalances are unwinding, persisting or aggravating. Ministers also broadly agreed with the Commission’s analysis in the AGS. They noted that structural and fiscal policies should help consolidate the recovery while tackling macroeconomic imbalances. 

Both economic performance and reform implementation remain uneven across the EU, however. Against this background, ministers agreed on the broad policy priority areas outlined by the Commission: boosting investment, pursuing structural reforms and implementing responsible fiscal policies. 

They also proposed placing a higher priority on product market reforms since these provide a more direct boost to productivity and output regardless of economic conditions.
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Euro area annual inflation up to 1.8%
Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 1.8% in January 2017, up from 1.1% in December 2016, according to a flash estimate from Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU. Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in January (8.1%, compared with 2.6% in December), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (1.7%, compared with 1.2% in December), services (1.2%, compared with 1.3% in December) and non-energy industrial goods (0.5%, compared with 0.3% in December).
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Euro area unemployment at 9.6%, EU at 8.2%
According to figures published on 31 January by Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 9.6% in December 2016, down from 9.7% in November 2016 and down from 10.5% in December 2015. This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since May 2009. The EU unemployment rate was 8.2% in December 2016, stable compared to November 2016 and down from 9.0% in December 2015. This remains the lowest rate recorded in the EU since February 2009. Compared with November 2016, the number of persons unemployed decreased by 159 000 in the EU and by 121 000 in the euro area. Compared with December 2015, unemployment fell by 1.839 million in the EU and by 1.256 million in the euro area. Among the Member States, the lowest unemployment rates in December 2016 were recorded in the Czech Republic (3.5%) and Germany (3.9%). The highest unemployment rates were observed in Greece (23.0% in October 2016) and Spain (18.4%). Compared with a year ago, the unemployment rate in December 2016 fell in twenty-four Member States, while it increased in Cyprus (from 13.1% to 14.3%), Italy (from 11.6% to 12.0%), Estonia (from 6.6% to 6.7% between November 2015 and November 2016) and Denmark (from 6.1% to 6.2%). The largest decreases were registered in Croatia (from 15.0% to 11.4%), Spain (from 20.7% to 18.4%) and Portugal (from 12.2% to 10.2%).
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