The European Semester is an annual exercise that coordinates the EU's economic and social policies. During the Semester, EU Member States align their budgetary and economic policies with the objectives and rules agreed upon at EU level.

By achieving stronger economic and social coordination, the European Semester aims to ensure sustainable economic growth, job creation, macroeconomic stability and sound public finances across the EU.

The Semester timetable follows a recurring cycle, starting in autumn with the presentation of economic and social priorities by the European Commission. It concludes in October of the subsequent year when EU Member States submit their draft budgetary plans. Following this, the cycle starts over again.

The European Semester was established in 2010, to address the need for stronger EU socio-economic governance and better coordination between national economic and fiscal policies. The 2008 financial crisis had revealed the need for such an exercise. As a response, EU Member States initiated a broad reform of EU policies which included:

• new tools to handle Member States facing financial distress, including the European Stability Mechanism
• stronger fiscal surveillance of national budgets through the reformed Stability and Growth Pact
• new instruments to prevent and correct risky macroeconomic developments with the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure
• stronger coordination of employment, social and growth policies; and
• the introduction of the European Semester, an annual planning cycle that synchronizes the timetables of various coordination procedures