EU finance ministers agreed a set of 12 structural indicators to be used in member-states' intensifying efforts to reform and modernise their economies, officials said.
The set, selected from a list of 35, is intended to serve as a basis for council of ministers' discussions, to focus public debate and to provide a concise overview of states' performance, they said.
It is part of the EU's move, started a year ago, to become the "most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world" in a decade.
The set highlights five aspects of the economy: the general economic background, employment, innovation and research, economic reform and social cohesion.
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The 12 indicators are:
- GDP per capita and real GDP growth rate
- employment rate by gender
- employment rate of older workers
- R&D expenditure
- level of Internet access
- ICT expenditures
- prices in the network industries telecommunications and electricity
- business investment
- capital raised on stock markets
- long-term unemployment rate
- variation in unemployment rates across regions
- early school-leavers not in further education or training
AFP