(23 October 2013) – With the adoption of its Work Programme for 2014, the European Commission identifies the priority growth-enhancing proposals to be completed in the months ahead; it focusses on the finalisation of the banking union, the single market and the digital agenda; and ensures that the new measures under the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020 swiftly become operational – in particular to combat youth unemployment.
Growth and jobs remain the Commission’s top priority in 2014, with a particular focus on combatting youth unemployment and facilitating access to financing. In line with the Blueprint for a deep and genuine Economic and Monetary Union, the Commission will continue work on completing the banking union, reinforcing economic governance and exploring further deepening of the EMU.
The Commission also stresses that it will pay particular attention to ensuring the successful launch of the new package under the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020. According to the Commission, it is essential that these measures are swiftly operational, so that citizens and businesses can benefit as soon as possible from new investment and the delivery of new programmes.
For the first time, the Commission Work Programme includes a list of already-adopted legislative proposals which the Commission believes deserve special attention, given their importance and given that they are sufficiently advanced to have a realistic chance of adoption in the coming months. These issues (Annex 1 of the work programme) give an indication of the areas where the Commission will invest its attention in the six months before the European Parliament elections.