“Emerge from the crisis with full force”: Results of the first ECOFIN Council of Germany's Presidency

Source: German presidency of the EU (German presidency) i, published on Friday, July 10 2020.

The first meeting of the EU i's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) during Germany's Council Presidency took place on 10 July. German Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz chaired the virtual meeting and presented the ECOFIN work programme for the second half of 2020.

The Federal Minister of Finance commented:

The coronavirus pandemic presents Europe with an unprecedented challenge. We are facing the worst recession since the Second World War, climate protection remains an enormous task, and digitization offers great opportunities. At the same time, the political and economic landscape is changing. That is why we must now do everything we can to emerge from the crisis with full force.

The agenda of the virtual ECOFIN meeting included the Presidency programme and an exchange about the current situation of the European economy with regard to the coronavirus pandemic and the recovery and reconstruction measures that have been introduced.

The convergence reports of the European Commission and the European Central Bank and the final report of the High-Level Forum on the European Capital Markets Union were also discussed.

“We had a good and constructive ECOFIN meeting. There were a great many issues we had to discuss with each other,” said Federal Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz at the conclusion of the meeting, underscoring participants' unity on those essential issues relating to the EU's common future.

More information on the conclusions of the ECOFIN Council can be found here:

Conclusions of the ECOFIN Council External link