Minister McGrath attends informal Eurogroup and ECOFIN

The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath will today (Thursday 14 September) travel to Santiago de Compostela in Spain* to represent Ireland at the informal meetings of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) and Eurogroup on Friday and Saturday.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Minister McGrath commented:

“These twice yearly informal meetings are a chance for myself and my Ministerial colleagues at ECOFIN and the Eurogroup to not only take stock of the performance of the European economy but to also step back and look at a range of strategic issues that are of critical importance to our citizens. I particularly welcome the opportunity for increased engagement with Ministerial colleagues from the Latin America and Caribbean region.”

The meetings begin on the morning of Friday 15 September with the informal Eurogroup. Euro area Ministers will be updated by officials from the European Commission on the latest macroeconomic developments and the European Central Bank (ECB) on the latest monetary policy decisions. There will then be a discussion on the candidacy that has been put forward to replace an outgoing member of the ECB’s executive board. Finally, Ministers will take stock of progress made on the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) treaty ratification process and the ongoing technical work of the ESM.

ECOFIN starts on Friday afternoon with a joint meeting with Ministers and international financial institutions from the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The first working session between EU economic and finance Ministers and their counterparts from the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will be on the Global Gateway investment agenda.** In the second session Ministers will look at the current state of the global financial safety net.

On Saturday 16 September, EU finance Ministers and central bank governors*** will discuss the interaction between fiscal policy and monetary policy and how both can address current and future priorities and challenges.

The final working session will see Minister McGrath and his Ministerial colleagues discussing the concept of strategic autonomy, in particular addressing the interaction between European financial integration, the economic security of the EU and European public goods.

*Note: The Presidency of the European Council rotates between EU Member States every six months. Whilst most Council Meetings continue to take place in Brussels, every Presidency hosts one set of meetings in their home country – these are known as ‘informals’. Spain currently holds the Presidency and, hence, the informal ECOFIN and Eurogroup meetings are being held in Santiago de Compostela.

**The EU-LAC Global Gateway Investment Agenda is a political commitment between the EU and Latin American countries to work together to identify green and digital investment opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/policies/global-gateway/eu-lac-global-gateway-investment-agenda_en

*** Central Bank of Ireland Governor Gabriel Makhlouf will be in attendance.