EZ ECOFIN Meetings

The European Commission and the European Central Bank provided their assessment of the latest macroeconomic and fiscal developments and outlook, followed by a discussion of ministers. "Our efforts are now bearing fruit, inflation has indeed come down a lot. Over time this will be very positive for households and for businesses. We can see that our economies are performing much better than we would have expected, considering the many shocks that we've had to deal with. We have record levels of employment in the euro area, which is ...

European Union finance ministers on Saturday backed a timeline calling for the reform of the bloc's fiscal rules by the end of the year as they look to balance debt cuts with investing in an individually tailored yet equal way. "It may be challenging but... the Spanish Presidency is committed to this timeframe and just today we outlined the way to do it, the fiscal 'camino'," European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference. Dombrovskis was referring to the "camino de Santiago" or Saint James's way, a ...

Ministers exchanged views on the economic and financial impact of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Commission updated ministers on the economic and financial situation in Ukraine as well as on the implementation of the EU’s macro-financial assistance to Ukraine. In December 2022, the Council and the European Parliament adopted legislation to lend Ukraine an additional €18 billion in 2023. The European Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with Ukraine yesterday and the first part of the assistance amounting to €3 billion ...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told CNBC Tuesday that she’s hoping an agreement to sanction Russian oil will be reached in the coming days. The 27 EU countries have been stuck over an oil embargo on Russia for several weeks, with countries such as Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic blocking the measure. Any sanctions imposed by the EU need to have the approval of all the 27 member states in order to be implemented. “I hope we are talking about days. So what we are looking at is one or two member states that ...

We all saw the gruesome pictures from Bucha and other areas from which Russian troops have recently left. Yesterday, I conveyed to President Zelenskyy my condolences and assured him of the European Commission's full support in these terrible times. These atrocities cannot and will not be left unanswered. The perpetrators of these heinous crimes must not go unpunished. The EU has set up a Joint Investigation Team with Ukraine. Its task is to collect evidence and investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. Russia is ...