Tuesday December 6, 2022 This morning in Brussels, ahead of the ECOFIN COUNCIL, EPP ECOFIN participants including 6 Ministers met together, chaired by Minister of Finance and President of the Eurogroup Paschal DONOHOE. Participants welcomed Elisabeth SVANTESSON, representing the new Swedish government as Minister of Finance. Paschal DONOHOE shared yesterday’s updates of the Eurogroup’s meeting. Ministers congratulated him for his official reelection for a second two-and-a-half-year term as Eurogroup President. As Chairperson of the European Stability Mechanism’s board of governors, P. DONOHOE also reported on the appointment of Luxembourg’s former finance minister Pierre GRAMEGNA as new ESM Managing Director, a positive development for this institution to remain a strong and dependable institution. Participants reiterated the EPP’s strong support for relief and solidarity measures to help Ukraine and shared concerns regarding the economic situation of high inflation and energy prices in their respective countries. EPP Ministers debated the European Semester, which includes a yearly assessment of Member States’ budgets. As governments have launched relief and aid packages to fend off the energy crisis, participants agreed that fiscal expansion in times of high inflation could further increase prices. Temporary measures, targeted to the most vulnerable households and businesses, should be prioritized to ensure no one is left behind, and to preserve a peaceful society. The European Semester and fiscal rules being two sides of the same coin, Ministers highlighted the need to refocus and streamline the Semester to strengthen it as a preventive arm and a sound platform fostering sustainable growth. In light of the Commission’s Economic Governance review, to be discussed at the Council’s meeting today, EPP ministers noted that fiscal policy is also a question of intergenerational fairness, and of strategic autonomy. The Stability and Growth Pact suffers from a lack of transparency, clarity, and enforcement, which could be tackled with the simplification of rules, a more individual and multi-annual approach, more national ownership, and a more evidence-based evaluation of fiscal policies. EPP participants at this morning’s meeting expressed support for the Commission’s decision to withhold EU funds from Hungary over rule of law concerns. Finally, they reiterated the party’s support for fair and open, rules-based trade, in the context of yesterday’s meeting of the transatlantic Trade and Technology Council (TTC) in Washington. They welcomed the trade talks as a chance to deepen ties with Europe’s trusted ally the United States, while sharing the EU’s concerns. Ministers look forward to further discussions among Member States to identify solutions.


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Alexandra Henman

Deputy Spokesperson

+32 471 90 76 84

alh@epp.eu

 

Angelos Athanasopoulos

National and Regional Press Director

+32 471 90 76 35

aa@epp.eu