The European Semester
Article 3
1. In order to ensure closer coordination of economic policies and sustained convergence of the economic and social performance of the Member States, the Council and the Commission, with the involvement of the European Parliament in accordance with Article 27 of this Regulation, shall conduct multilateral surveillance in the context of the European Semester in accordance with the objectives and requirements set out in the TFEU. 2. Multilateral surveillance shall rely on high quality and independent statistics, produced in accordance with the principles laid down in Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. 3. The European Semester shall include: (a) the formulation, and the surveillance of the implementation, of the broad guidelines for the economic policies of the Member States and of the Union in accordance with Article 121(2) TFEU, of country-specific recommendations and of the recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area; (b) the formulation, and the surveillance of the implementation, of the employment guidelines that are to be taken into account by Member States in accordance with Article 148(2) TFEU, including the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and of the related country-specific recommendations. The surveillance of the implementation by the Commission includes the progress in implementing the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights and its headline targets, via the social scoreboard and a framework to identify risks to social convergence; (c) the submission, assessment and endorsement of national medium-term fiscal-structural plans of the Member States, as well as the monitoring of their implementation through the annual progress reports; (d) surveillance in order to prevent and correct macroeconomic imbalances pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011.