10.02.2015

The Ministry of Finance held an orientation discussion to identify the key measures for the update of the National Reform Programme (NRP) in 2015. For the first time since the introduction of the European semester as an instrument for coordinating the EU economic policy the Ministry of Finance has initiated a broad public discussion at an early stage of the NRP development. Representatives of the state administration, social partners and non-governmental organisations took part in the discussion within the broadened format of Working Group 31 "Europe 2020".

The broader horizontal debate in the areas of public finance sustainability, human capital, effectiveness of public expenditure, competitiveness and network industries was focused on strengthening the commitment of national institutions and their readiness for reform implementation. Proposals for key measures in response to the EU Council of 8 July 2014 recommendations were presented during the discussion. The proposals, opinions and assessments obtained during the discussion will be used in the future work on the preparation of the 2015 NRP update.

An important feature relevant to the document update is the successful binding of the development process and the planning of the measures' implementation with the process of their budgeting. The Ministry of Finance has formally integrated these two processes bringing the budget procedure in compliance with the timetable for developing the National Reform Programme.