You're listening to the European Parliamentary Research Service podcast on the Commission's Work Program for 2016.

No time for business as usual, a compelling title for the Commission's Work Programme for 2016.

The program, adopted on 27th of October 2015, spells out actions on 10 political priorities for the coming 12 months,

some of which were already presented in 2015, such as the measures on firearms or the circular economy package.

Stay with us and we'll walk you through them.

2015 was not an easy year for the European Union.

The migration crisis, the terrorist attacks in Paris, and the economic situation in Greece

have obliged the Commission, Member States and the Parliament to deviate from the original work programme

and find solutions to these unexpected and ongoing emergencies.

And although terrorism, migration and new emerging challenges will continue

to require EU action, the Commission has set a clear work path for 2016. Ahead of the Commission's

adoption of a new work programme in October 2015, the European Parliament set out its recommendations

and urged the EU executive to show clear leadership and the importance it attaches to transparency of the legislative process.

Covering the whole spectrum of the strategic priorities, the Parliament's resolution provides very detailed recommendations for the 2016 Commission Work Programme.

It notably expects a proposal for the next phase of the Europe 2020 Strategy for Growth and Jobs

and mentions that this strategy should be fully supported by full use of the Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs, and mentions that this strategy

should be fully supported by full use of the European Fund for Strategic Investments and a revised

multi-annual financial framework 2014-20.

The European Parliament urges also the Commission to come forward with the measures required

to make economic and monetary union more resilient and calls for a comprehensive and global approach to asylum and migration policy.

The European Parliament also welcomed negotiations on a new inter-institutional agreement on better lawmaking.

Key events in the preparation of this work programme were the State of the Union address of President Juncker

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