Notice: P. Kažimír to chair Economic and Financial Affairs Council
On Tuesday 12 July, Minister of Finance Peter Kažimír will chair the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) in Brussels.
The Council is expected to adopt decisions that Portugal and Spain have not taken effective action in response to its recommendations on measures to correct their excessive deficits. It is also expected to adopt country-specific recommendations on the member states’ economic, employment and fiscal policies, thus ending the 2016 European Semester cycle.
The Council is expected to adopt a directive to tackle corporate tax avoidance, following an agreement reached on 21 June, as well as a recommendation on national productivity boards. It will discuss new proposals to prevent money laundering and to boost tax transparency.
The agenda also includes the Slovak presidency work programme, removing barriers to investment, Basel Committee banking reforms and preparation of a G20 meeting. For more details, see the background note.
The Council meeting is scheduled to start at 10.30.
At 8.00, an informal meeting with representatives of the European Parliament will take place. At 9.30, 28 ministers of finance will hold a breakfast meeting to discuss the economic situation.
After the Council, Minister Peter Kažimír and Vice-President of the European Commission V. Dombrovskis will participate at a joint press conference, which can be followed live at www.eu2016.sk/en and EbS.
Afterwards, a taxation agreement with Monaco is due to be signed.
The Eurogroup will meet on Monday 11 July, starting at 15.00. It will discuss the economic and financial situation, the euro area’s fiscal stance, the outcome of post-programme surveillance missions to Ireland and Portugal, and the budgetary situation in Portugal and Spain. It will also hold a thematic discussion on investment.
On Monday 11 July, starting at 10.00, Minister of Finance Peter Kažimír will also deliver an opening speech at a conference “Feasibility and Added Value of a European Unemployment Benefits Scheme”.
The conference is co-organized by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the EU and the European Commission. Since February 2015, CEPS has been the coordinator of a comprehensive research project on the feasibility and value added of a EUBS, seen as one of potential automatic macro-economic stabilisers that could improve the institutional architecture of the Economic and Monetary Union.
Click here for the details and see the final agenda. Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs P. Moscovici will also open the conference.