Minister Chambers to represent Ireland at October meetings of Eurogroup and ECOFIN Finance Ministers

The Minister for Finance Jack Chambers TD, is in Luxembourg to represent Ireland at the October meetings of the Eurogroup (Monday 7th October) and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) (Tuesday 8th October).

Minister Chambers will also visit the Ministry of Finance in Luxembourg for a bilateral meeting with Minister Gilles Roth. Minister Chambers will also hold a bilateral meeting with the Polish finance minister, Mr. Andrzej Jan Domański, ahead of Poland taking over the Presidency of the Council (1 ) of the European Union in January 2025.

At the Eurogroup, Ministers will receive an update on the digital euro, particularly in the context of the European payments systems. They will then return to the issue of competitiveness with a discussion aimed at moving toward the finalisation of the year-long work stream on this topic.

Work will then turn to the issue of Capital Markets Union where Ministers will look at measures to facilitate access to capital markets access for mid-sized companies. Eurogroup will finish with a discussion on preparations for the upcoming international meetings in Washington.

On Monday evening Minister Chambers will attend an Irish community reception at the Irish embassy in Luxembourg.

At ECOFIN on Tuesday, Finance Ministers will consider a range of issues. There will be an exchange of views amongst Ministers on the economic and financial impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and how Ukraine can be further supported in the months and years ahead. The European Commission will provide an update on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the state of play of financial services legislative proposals.

The European Semester (2 ) will be discussed with the aim of learning lessons from the experience in 2024 and optimising the process.

Ministers will also finalise and approve the statements and terms of reference ahead of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting of 23-24 October 2024 and the IMF annual meetings. Finally, there will be a discussion on climate finance ahead of COP29 (3 ) in Baku (the United Nations Climate Change Conference).

Speaking ahead of the meetings, Minister Chambers said:

"I am looking forward to a busy programme of international coordination and engagement with my fellow European finance Ministers.

At Eurogroup we will cover many of the most pressing workstreams including competitiveness and taking forward capital markets union.

On Tuesday, at ECOFIN, we will consider how Europe can bolster the support we are providing to Ukraine. We will also be looking at the latest elements of the European Semester, including lessons learnt from the 2024 cycle. Finally, on climate finance, we will have an engagement ahead of the COP29 meetings in Baku.

We will receive an update on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility followed by a discussion about upcoming international meetings.

Finally, at a bilateral level I look forward to meeting my Luxembourgish and Polish colleagues and having an opportunity to meet with the Irish community in Luxembourg and an event hosted by the Irish embassy."

ENDS

Note for editors:

(1 ) The Presidency of the Council of the European Union rotates every six months. It is currently with Hungary. Poland takes over in January 2025. Ireland’s Presidency is in H2 2026.
(2 ) The European Semester is the European Union's annual framework to coordinate economic, fiscal, employment and social policy within the European Union.
(3 ) The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP29, will be the 29th United Nations Climate Change conference. COP29 will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 11 to 22 November, 2024.