#openpe

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjypDqPQ

MEPs who belong to EP committees covering economic affairs will be meeting with their counterparts from national parliaments today and tomorrow to discuss economic governance. The two-day joint parliamentary meeting will be a dialogue between the European Parliament and national parliaments on the European Semester, which is an annual cycle of macro-economic, budgetary and structural policy coordination. Gianni Pittella, vice-president of the European Parliament, will open the meeting, while EP president Martin Schulz will makes a statement before tonight’s dinner. Also Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, are expected to address the auditorium. After the opening participants will be able to take part in two sessions. The first one will be on fiscal discipline and sustainability on public finances, the other one about beyond budgetary discipline: how to achieve sustainable growth, job creation and social progress in adverse economic circumstances. The European Semester is an annual six-month cycle during which the Commission and the Council assess budgetary and stability programs from member states to give them policy recommendations before governments draw up next year’s budgets. At the upcoming European Council in the beginning of March, member states will identify the main challenges facing the EU and give strategic advice on economic and budgetary policies