22/04/2016 NEWS
The Minister of Finance, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, will chair the informal Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) in Amsterdam on Friday 22 and Saturday 23 April.
On the first day, the finance ministers of all the EU’s 28 member states will discuss, among other things, the Panama Papers and the financial sector’s contribution to a sustainable and stable economy.
The first day of the informal Ecofin Council will begin with a lunch session to debate the EU’s budgetary problems. The working lunch will be followed by a session on strengthening the European Banking Union. Banking Union has significantly reduced the risk of countries having to bail out failing banks. But there is still a risk of countries in financial stress dragging down banks with significant holdings of sovereign debt. The Netherlands, the current President of the Council of Ministers, placed this issue on the agenda.
The EU ministers will discuss the Panama Papers later in the day. The President of the Dutch central bank, Klaas Knot, will close the day with a discussion of the financial sector´s contribution to a sustainable and stable economy.
The Ecofin Council takes decisions on EU economic policy, taxes and the financial sector. There are two kinds of Ecofin Council. At informal meetings, the ministers debate new plans and solutions to complex problems. At regular Ecofin meetings, the finance ministers take decisions on legislative proposals drafted by the European Commission. Together with the European Parliament, they also prepare the Union's annual budget.
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