The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Philip Hammond)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) was held in Luxembourg on 22 June 2018.
ECOFIN was preceded by a morning meeting of the EIB board of governors.
Annual EIB board of governors meeting
The EIB board of governors meeting included a speech by EIB President Werner Hoyer, a governors discussion on the future direction of the bank, reappointment of the board of directors, and approval of the audit report.
At ECOFIN, EU Finance Ministers discussed the following:
Early morning session
The Eurogroup President briefed the Council on the outcomes of the 21 June meeting of the Eurogroup, and the European Commission provided an update on the current economic situation in the EU. Following this, the Council discussed the next multiannual financial framework, and France and Germany reported on the outcomes of the Franco-German summit on 19 June.
VAT “quick-fixes”
The Council discussed the presidency compromise text in regards to the directive on harmonising and simplifying certain rules in the VAT system and introducing the definitive system for the taxation of trade between member states; the regulation regarding certain exemptions for intra-community transactions and the regulation regarding certified taxable persons. The Council was unable to reach agreement on a general approach.
European deposit insurance scheme
The Council took note of the presidency progress report on the European deposit insurance scheme.
Current financial services legislative proposals
The presidency provided an update on current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
Insolvency directive
The presidency provided an update on the insolvency, restructuring and second-chance directive.
National reform programmes 2018
The Council approved the 2018 country-specific recommendations as part of the European semester process.
Implementation of the stability and growth pact
The Council adopted Council decisions and recommendations in the context of both the excessive deficit procedure and the significant deviation procedure, also part of the European semester.
Convergence reports
Also as part of the European semester, the Commission and the European Central Bank presented the annual convergence reports.
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