National Reform Programme

The Europe 2020 Strategy and Ireland’s National Reform Programme

The Europe 2020 Strategy has been adopted as a successor to the Lisbon Strategy for Jobs and Growth and aims to enable Europe to emerge stronger from the current economic crisis and to turn the European Union into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy.

Five headline targets for 2020 have been set at the level of the EU as a whole, covering employment, research and development, climate change, education and poverty.

Ireland’s National Reform Programme identifies national targets in each of the five headline areas, the main bottlenecks to reaching these targets and sets out the measures necessary to allow Ireland overcome these and achieve its national targets. The National Reform Programme complements the Stability Programme Update as part of the European Semester.

National Reform Programme for Ireland 2013 Update under the Europe 2020 Strategy

The 2011 National Reform Programme (NRP) identified national targets in each of the five headline areas of the Europe 2020 Strategy: employment, research and development, climate change, education and poverty.

The 2013 update, submitted to the European Commission on 30th April 2013, provides a review of progress made this year in achieving our national targets set in the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy.

The National Reform Programme update was prepared in conjunction with the Stability Programme Update (submitted separately by the Department of Finance) as part of the European Semester.

NRP 2013 Update

Ireland’s National Targets

Employment – to raise to 69-71% the employment rate for women and men aged 20-64, including through the greater participation of young people, older workers and low-skilled workers and the better integration of legal migrants, and to review the target level of ambition in 2014, in the context of a proposed mid-term review of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Research and Development – to raise combined public and private investment levels in this sector to 2.5% of GNP (approximately equivalent to 2.0% of GDP).

Climate Change – to reduce emissions in the non-traded sector by 20% compared to 2005 levels; to increase the share of renewables in final energy consumption to 16%; and to move towards a 20% increase in energy efficiency.  

Education – to reduce the percentage of 18-24 year olds with at most lower secondary education and not in further education and training to 8%; and to increase the share of 30-34 years olds having completed tertiary or equivalent education to at least 60%.

Poverty (revised) – to reduce the number experiencing consistent poverty to 4% by 2016 (interim target) and to 2% or less by 2020, from the 2010 baseline rate of 6.2%, which will lift at least 200,000 people out of the risk of poverty and exclusion between 2012 and 2020.

Further information on each of the target areas and the key measures to enable Ireland reach its targets are available in Ireland’s 2011 National Reform Programme, and National Reform Programme 2012 Update.