Minister McGrath to represent Ireland at October meetings of Eurogroup and ECOFIN

The Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has today (Monday 16 October) travelled to Luxembourg to represent Ireland at the October meetings of the Eurogroup and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN).

Ahead of the meetings Minister McGrath said:

"These meetings will allow myself and Ministerial colleagues at ECOFIN to review progress on the ongoing discussions on the reform of Europe’s fiscal rules. This is a substantial undertaking and the proposals from the Spanish Presidency provide a good basis for negotiation. We must re-double our efforts to find a common way forward. Beyond this, there are a wide variety of far reaching topics and projects which I look forward to discussing with my Ministerial colleagues."

The meetings begin on the morning of Monday 16 October when the Eurogroup in inclusive format will host U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen for discussions on the Transatlantic economic dialogue. Ministers will then have an exchange of views on the future of European Capital and Financial Markets with the aim of unlocking capital funding in the EU. This will be followed by an update on the ongoing preparations for the Eurosummit.

The Eurogroup will then take stock of the Euro Area Recommendations under the European semester process and how euro area priorities fit into Member States’ Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs). The digital euro project continues to develop and Ministers will be briefed on and take stock of the progress made.

ECOFIN will begin on Tuesday morning with discussions on the Economic Governance Review. This is a complex discussion which will be divided up into a number of items. The agenda also includes an update on to the ongoing implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) - and a review of the economic and financial impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Ministers will then be invited to agree council conclusion on climate finance which were prepared by the Energy and Climate Change working group. Following this, the meetings will finish with debriefs from a variety of international meetings including the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) and the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings.