The OECD offers traineeships 19

consultation of social partners on how to improve the working conditions for people working through digital labour platforms was open from 24 February to 7 April 2021. After considering the replies, the Commission has concluded that there is a need for EU action. Therefore, the Commission is now launching the second-stage consultation of the social partners, representing trade unions and employers' associations at EU level, in accordance with Article 154(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This consultation does not address the issue of the applicability of EU competition law to collective bargaining by self-employed. This issue is tackled through a separate but complementary initiative, for which an Open Public Consultation closed on 31 May 2021. The purpose of the latter is to ensure that EU competition law does not stand in the way of collective agreements that aim to improve the working conditions of self-employed in a weak position, while guaranteeing that consumers and SMEs continue to benefit from competitive prices and innovative business models, including in the digital economy.

9. EU Budget

The EU budget has helped ensure a swift and comprehensive EU response to the coronavirus crisis and its consequences, while supporting overarching EU priorities.

This involved mobilising financial resources rapidly and flexibly to address the most pressing needs, without making any compromise on applying the highest standards of financial management. The Commission presents two complementary pieces on EU budget performance reporting:  an Annual Management and Performance Report for the EU budget;  and a forward-looking Communication on the performance framework for the EU long-

term budget 2021-2027.

The first document – the Annual Management and Performance Report – has shown that, despite its relatively small size, the EU budget is capable of achieving major results, and can play a critical role in times of crisis. The robust internal control framework of the Commission ensured that the EU budget remained well and effectively protected throughout the year. The performance framework – the subject of the second document – will make sure that the European Commission preserves the strong focus on the achieved results in the future, starting from the effective implementation of the current multiannual financial framework, complemented by the NextGenerationEU recovery instrument. Taken together, the two represent the largest stimulus package ever financed from the EU budget. Johannes Hahn, Commissioner in charge of the EU Budget and Administration, said: “2020 was an extremely challenging year due to the coronavirus pandemic but once more, the EU demonstrated its ability to cope with this challenge. Thanks to the EU budget, the EU put forward an unprecedentedly swift and comprehensive response to help overcome the health, economic and social repercussions of the pandemic, while extending our solidarity well beyond our borders. While fighting the pandemic, we kept our focus on our priorities and met all our budgetary goals, including in terms of climate and biodiversity. As for the forthcoming years, the Commission has a great responsibility to continue to implement effectively the long-term EU budget and NextGenerationEU. Even in times of crisis it remains our objective to maximise the effectiveness of EU spending besides continuing to deliver for EU citizens and partners beyond.”

The EU's Annual Management and Performance Report (AMPR) for the EU budget for 2020

The Annual Managament and Performance Report for the EU budget is the document through which the Commission takes overall political responsibility for the management of the previous' year EU budget. The 2020 Annual Managament and Performance Report demonstrates that the EU used its 2020 budget rapidly and effectively to mitigate the coronavirus crisis and its consequences. In only a few weeks, the EU mobilised every single available euro within its budgetary remit to alleviate the impact of the crisis. Funds were deployed rapidly through new flexibility in existing programmes, such as the structural funds, or through new initiatives, including the Emergency Support Instrument or the innovative SURE. The budgetary response to coronavirus pandemic and its consequences was comprehensive,