Annual sustainable growth strategy

The annual sustainable growth strategy (ASGS) sets out the economic and social priorities for the European Union (EU), placing sustainability and social inclusion at the heart of the EU's economic policymaking.

The ASGS kicks off the European semester, which is the EU’s annual cycle of economic and budgetary policy coordination. Each year the strategy is presented by the European Commission in late autumn and, following discussions within the Parliament and the Council, forms the basis of EU guidance for national growth and employment policies. Starting from the 2020 European semester cycle, it focuses on four aspects:

• environmental sustainability,
• productivity,
• fairness, and
• macroeconomic stability.

As part of the European semester's autumn cycle, the Commission also publishes at the same time as the ASGS a draft joint employment report, which analyses the EU’s employment situation and how EU countries are addressing it, and an alert mechanism report, which looks for potential economic imbalances requiring policy action, and provides a recommendation for the euro area.

SEE ALSO

• Broad economic policy guidelines (BEPG)
• Council of the European Union
• European Commission
• European Parliament
• European semester
• European Union
• Autumn package (European Commission).