The European Commission has issued a series of economic policy recommendations to individual Member States including seven country-specific recommendations to Ireland and six recommendations to the UK. The recommendations are based on detailed analyses of each country’s situation and provide guidance on how to boost growth, increase competitiveness and create jobs in 2014–2015.

The Commission’s recommendations to Ireland are in the areas of; public finances; health care; labour market, education and training; social inclusion; access to finance; financial sector and legal services. In the area of public finances, the Commission recommends the full implementation of budget 2014 and continued efforts to ensure the correction of the excessive deficit in a sustainable manner by 2015. After the correction of the excessive deficit, the Commission recommends that Ireland pursues a structural adjustment towards the medium-term objective of at least 0.5% of GDP each year. The Commission also suggests that Ireland should raise revenues through broadening the tax base for the purposes fiscal consolidation and that Ireland should enhance the growth and environmental friendliness of its tax system. For full details of the recommendations for Ireland see the Commission’s website.

The Commission has issued six country-specific recommendations to the United Kingdom to help it improve its economic performance. These are in the areas of: public finances; housing market; labour market, education and training; welfare reform and child care; financial sector; network industries.

In terms of public finances, the Commission recommends that the UK should reinforce the budgetary strategy to correct the excessive deficit in a sustainable manner in line with the Council recommendation under the Excessive Deficit Procedure. It also recommends that the UK should pursue a differentiated, growth-friendly approach to fiscal tightening by prioritising capital expenditure. To assist with fiscal consolidation, the Commission says that the UK should raise revenues through broadening the tax base and that structural bottlenecks should be addressed including access to finance for SMEs to boost growth in the export of both goods and services. Full details of the recommendations for the UK are available on the Commission’s website.