To reach this objective, the EU has adopted targets to be reached by 2020 in five areas:

The Europe 2020 strategy is the EU's agenda for growth and jobs for the current decade. It emphasises smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in order to improve Europe's competitiveness and productivity and underpin a sustainable social market economy.

What are the key targets to be reached by 2020?

The headline targets related to the strategy's key objectives at the EU level cover:

Employment:

> 75% of the population aged 20 to 64 years to be employed;

Research & Development:

> 3% of GDP to be invested in the R&D sector;

Climate change & energy:

> Greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by 20% compared to 1990 ;

> Share of renewable energy sources in final energy consumption to be increased to 20% ;

> Energy efficiency to be improved by 20% ;

Education:

> Share of early school leavers to be reduced under 10% ;

> At least 40% of 30 to 34 years old to have completed tertiary or equivalent education ;

Poverty and social exclusion:

> At least 20 million people fewer at risk of poverty or social exclusion.

The EU-level targets have been translated into national targets in each EU country, reflecting different situations and circumstances.

What is the current situation for the EU?

Now that the Europe 2020 strategy is approaching the end of its life cycle, it is clear that it has provided an important contribution to the EU’s socio-economic development since its launch in 2010. Europe’s employment is at a record high, the greenhouse gas emissions objective and the higher education targets have been met, and Europe is on track with the renewable energy and energy efficiency targets. However, considerable progress is still needed for stimulating more investment in research and innovation and for fighting poverty and social exclusion.

What is Eurostat’s role?

Eurostat has been involved in the process of defining the indicators to support the Europe 2020 strategy and it monitors the headline targets with nine indicators. Eurostat’s role is: