The European Semester continues to play a crucial role in monitoring Member States’ compliance with EU priorities, including the European Pillar of Social Rights and the transition towards a social and circular economy.
Since 2018, RREUSE has tracked the visibility of social and circular economy measures across the Semester to highlight trends and opportunities for progress.
Our 2025 European Semester analysis reviews how these priorities are integrated into national policy plans and the European Commission’s Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs). This year’s findings reveal that, despite the importance of inclusive labour markets and circular practices, attention to both the social and circular economy continues to decline compared to previous cycles. While some encouraging national initiatives can be observed, the Semester still falls short of giving adequate visibility to the social economy, despite the groundbreaking 2023 Council Recommendation on social economy framework conditions.
At the same time, the analysis highlights opportunities for the Semester to better support social enterprises active in reuse, repair and other circular activities. Building on this, we put forward key recommendations for EU and national policymakers to unlock the Semester’s potential for ambitious social, economic and environmental policies.
Policy paper
