The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr George Osborne)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held in Brussels on 17 February 2015. Ministers discussed the following items:
Investment plan for Europe
The presidency gave a state of play update on the Commission’s proposal for a regulation on the European fund for strategic investments.
Current legislative proposals
The presidency gave an update on current legislative proposals.
Annual growth survey 2015 and alert mechanism report
The Council adopted conclusions on the annual growth survey and the alert mechanism report.
Follow-up to the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on 9 to 10 February 2015 in Istanbul
The presidency and the Commission debriefed the Council on the G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in Istanbul.
Discharge procedure in respect of the implementation of the budget for 2013
The Council, on the basis of a report from the Court of Auditors, approved draft recommendations on the discharge to be given to the Commission in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2013. The UK, along with Sweden and the Netherlands, voted against the Council recommendations and submitted a joint statement expressing there had not been an improvement to the Court of Auditor’s error rate assessment.
Budget guidelines for 2016
The Council endorsed guidelines concerning the 2016 budget of the EU, which will be its overall reference for the budget year.
High-level group on own resources—first assessment report
The chairman of the high-level group on own resources presented the group’s first assessment report on the system of financing the EU budget, followed by an exchange of views.
[HCWS334]