EU Economy and Finance Ministers discussed the bloc’s economic governance after the pandemic, the future of the European Semester, as well as the rise in electricity and consumer prices, during Tuesday’s Ecofin meeting in Brussels.
The Ministers discussed the current situation regarding the financing of NextGenerationEU, and the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU which supports reforms and investments in EU member states through loans and grants.
Ministers also approved conclusions on the future of the European Semester in relation to the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The conclusions call for the return of the essential elements of the European Semester in the 2022 cycle, in particular country reports and country-specific recommendations.
The conclusions also underline “the need to take into account the ongoing recovery process, the related uncertainties and the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.”
Ecofin Ministers further discussed the recent steep increase in energy and consumer prices and the associated policy implications. They exchanged views on the Commission’s toolbox of measures that the EU and its member states can use and are already using to address the immediate impact of energy price increases.
During the general discussion, ministers exchanged views on the EU economy following the COVID-19 pandemic, and on the implications of recent developments for economic governance.
They also touched on the future of the EU’s economic governance framework and gave their initial views on the way forward. This topic will be discussed further and ministers will continue their consultations in order to reach a broad consensus in due course.
In a statement after the meeting, Slovenian Minister for Finance Andrej Šircelj, who chaired the meeting on behalf of the Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU, said that the ministers agreed that the efforts to boost Europe’s economic recovery are taking effect.
“Now it is time to reflect on the future of our economic governance. Today, we exchanged initial views on the future of fiscal policy,” Šircelj added, pointing out that the discussion needs to continue with an aim to reach common ground.
The Council members also held a debate on a set of legislative proposals mostly aimed at implementing the outstanding Basel III agreements, which include reform measures intended to help reinforce the resilience of the EU banking sector and strengthen its supervision and risk management.
The Slovenian presidency and the European Commission also briefed the ministers on the meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and on the recent IMF annual meeting which took place in October.
Finally, a representative of the European Court of Auditors presented the body’s annual report on the implementation of the EU budget for the 2020 financial year.
Source: Cyprus News Agency