EU finance ministers meet in Bratislava to discuss a vision for the euro area, taxation and investments

Bratislava (9-10 September) - Slovak Finance Minister Peter Kažimír received fellow economic and financial affairs ministers from the other EU Member States for an informal ECOFIN i meeting in Bratislava on Friday and Saturday. The meeting traditionally takes place as part of a country’s Presidency of the Council of the EU, offering a perfect opportunity to discuss not only current issues, but also issues that are of strategic importance from a medium-term perspective.

The first day of the informal ECOFIN Council began with a discussion on ‘The future of EU economic policies’. The ministers assessed whether or not the existing framework is sufficient in light of current unprecedented challenges such as comparatively weak economic growth, migration, Brexit and security issues. Former Italian finance minister M. Monti i and former Swedish finance minister A. Borg also attended the discussion.

In the next discussion panel, ministers discussed the subject of ‘Enhancing economic and monetary union - the fiscal pillar’, which is one of the priorities of the Slovak Presidency. The talks centred on ‘smart’ euro area integration, with an eye to ensuring responsible fiscal and structural policies at national level and coming up with a fiscal instrument to withstand macroeconomic shocks at central level.

Politicians are, so to say, allergic to the term ‘deeper integration’, but would disintegration be a better alternative?

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  Kažimír

“Politicians are, so to say, allergic to the term ‘deeper integration’, but would disintegration be a better alternative?” said Mr Kažimír, before adding that “we need to move forward in a smart way that is based on mutual trust”. “Medium-term prospects for fiscal capacity are, therefore, inherent to the discussion,” he asserted.

The Finance Ministry’s State Secretary, Ivan Lesay, noted that “Europe as such cannot be considered stable unless the euro area is stable, and most EU countries are convinced that this important discussion has a place on the agenda”.

The discussion on the possible alternatives of fiscal capacity also included presentations by V. Gaspar from the International Monetary Fund, D. Gross from the think-tank Centre for European Policy Studies, and G. Wolff from the think-tank Bruegel.

On the second day of the meeting, the debate focused on tax issues, with the aim of striking a balance between an effective fight against tax evasion, fraud and crime, including terrorist financing, and the need to ensure a stable and predictable tax environment. The Secretary-General of the OECD i, J. A. Gurría, and the Slovak Finance Ministry’s State Secretary, D. Meager, took the floor during the discussion.

The ministers concluded the two-day informal talks with a discussion on ‘The investment plan for Europe’, attended by EIB i President W. Hoyer and EFSI i Managing Director W. Molterer. The discussion concentrated on the positive results that this investment initiative has brought thus far, as well as on possibilities for enhancing its effectiveness.

Bratislava also hosted the governors of the central banks of fellow EU Member States. A panel discussion on ‘Europe at the crossroads: What happens next with EU economic governance’ took place in the margins of the informal ECOFIN Council, with Vazil Hudák from the Slovak Finance Ministry and a number of notable foreign guests also in attendance.