Eurogroup meeting / Informal meeting of economic and financial affairs ministers, Vienna - Main contents
| date | September 7, 2018 - September 8, 2018 |
|---|---|
| city | Vienna, Austria |
| location | Vienna, Austria Center Vienna  |
| attending | V. (Valdis) Dombrovskis i, J.T. (Jyrki) Katainen i, P. (Pierre) Moscovici i et al. |
| organisation | Eurogroup i, Austrian presidency of the EU (Austrian presidency) i |
Agenda highlights
The Eurogroup meeting will take place in two formats - the first part will be a regular meeting of the euro area ministers, starting at 9.00, while the second part will be a meeting of the ministers of 27 EU member states, starting at 10.30.
9.00 - Eurogroup meeting in regular format
Exchange of views with the Chair of the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee
The Eurogroup will exchange views with the Chair of the European Parliament's (EP) Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) on the euro area's economic outlook and challenges.
The purpose is to strengthen the exchange of information between the EP and the Eurogroup. This initiative comes in addition to the Eurogroup President's regular appearances at the European Parliament's ECON Committee, for an 'economic dialogue' on the Eurogroup's work and policy priorities.
Thematic discussion on allocative efficiency in labour and product markets
The Eurogroup will discuss allocative efficiency in labour and product markets. The discussion will take place on the basis of a note prepared by the European Commission and a presentation by Christopher Antoniou Pissarides, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Nobel Prize laureate.
A country's ability to allocate resources efficiently in labour and product markets enhances economic resilience and is thus particularly relevant for the euro area.
Portugal: 8th post-programme surveillance mission
The European Commission and the European Central Bank will inform the Eurogroup of the results of their 8th post-programme monitoring mission to Portugal, which took place from 5 to 12 June 2018.
The European Stability Mechanism will inform of aspects of its early warning system.
The key objective of post-programme monitoring is to assess a country's capacity to repay loans granted under its earlier programme. It comes to an end when at least 75% of the loans received have been repaid.
10.30 - Meeting of 27 member states
Deepening EMU: follow up to the June Euro Summit, including common backstop issues
Ministers will discuss the follow-up to the Euro Summit of 29 June 2018. This will include an exchange views on the issue of a common backstop for the single resolution fund, which intends to discuss all the issues raised in the Eurogroup President's letter of 25 June.
The Eurogroup will also discuss issues related to the common backstop to the Single Resolution Fund (SRF). The Euro Summit of June 2018 agreed that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) would provide the common backstop to the SRF and that the Eurogroup would prepare terms of reference on this matter by December 2018.
The single resolution fund is part of the single resolution mechanism - one of the key pillars of the banking union. It is funded by contributions from the banking sector and is gradually built up to reach its target size by 2023.
The backstop is needed to ensure sufficient funding in situations where the single resolution fund might not be sufficiently funded by the banking sector. Currently this is ensured by a system of bridge financing from national sources.
Contents
The Eurogroup is an informal body where the ministers of the euro area i member states discuss matters relating to their shared responsibilities related to the euro.
Its main task is to ensure close coordination of economic policies among the euro area member states. It also aims to promote conditions for stronger economic growth. The Eurogroup is also responsible for preparing the Euro Summit meetings and for their follow-up.