What is the European Semester? It is the main European process aiming to coordinate economic, employment and social policies in the 27 countries of the EU. In this context, the European Commission publishes recommendations for reforms in each country of the EU. Check out the 2026 Country-specific recommendations here.
The European Semester is the EU’s annual cycle for coordinating economic, social, employment, and budgetary policies. It strongly shapes national reforms and EU funding priorities, yet it often flies under the radar of civil society. This online capacity-building sessions is for COFACE members who wish to get involved in this process.
On 27 May 2025, after more than two years of work, the indicators sub-group of the Social Protection Committee has released its Monitoring Framework for the Council Recommendation on Access to Affordable High-Quality Long-Term Care (Council Recommendation on LTC). The monitoring framework includes indicators that will allow the European Union to better gather and compare data on long-term care at EU level, as well as to measure the Member States progress towards achieving the objectives of the Council Recommendation on LTC, which was adopted in 2022.
The European Commission’s European Semester Autumn Package, published in December 2024, initiates a new cycle of the European Semester, providing a comprehensive overview of the socio-economic landscape, identifying key priorities and risks, and offering policy guidance to assist EU Member States in achieving shared objectives in 2025.
As part of the European Semester, the Joint Employment Report 2025 emphasises that participation in ECEC under three is improving but at a very low pace, calling for renewed efforts in line with the European Child Guarantee, the European Care Strategy and the Council Recommendation on ECEC.
