Pools Voorzitterschap zit eerste en belangrijke ECOFIN-Raad voor (en)
The first meeting of EU finance ministers (ECOFIN) since Poland assumed the EU Council Presidency was held in Brussels on 12thJuly 2011.
In the course of the meeting the ministers acquainted themselves with the Polish Presidency’s planned programme of activities over the latter half of 2011.
The Council also accepted a statement concerning safeguard mechanisms and agreed the method of communicating the results of tests of extreme conditions in the banking sector. Ninety-one banks holding 65% of the European banking sector’s assets were subjected to those tests in 2011. The test results will be published on 15thJuly this year.
In addition, the Council has completed what is known as the European Semester and has accepted recommendations for National Reform Programmes as well as Stability and Convergence Programme. The above-mentioned recommendations should be taken into account by Member States when planning their 2012 economic, budget and employment policies.
The Council also took a decision to drop excessive-deficit procedures against Finland in connection with that country’s lowering of its deficit to below the 3% GDP reference value.
The news release from the ECOFIN meeting is available online at:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/123656.pdf
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