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The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Philip Hammond)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) was held in Brussels on 4 December 2018. The UK was represented by Mark Bowman (Director General, International Finance, HM Treasury). The Council discussed the following:
Early morning session
The Eurogroup President briefed the Council on the outcomes of the 3 December meeting of the Eurogroup, and the European Commission provided an update on the current economic situation in the EU. Following this, the Commission presented its forthcoming communication on the international role of the euro, and the Council held an exchange of views on the European Investment Bank.
Digital services tax
The Council held a policy debate on the proposal to establish an EU-wide digital services tax.
Strengthening of the banking union
The Council endorsed the results of the trilogue with regards to the banking package. The Austrian presidency then presented a progress report on the European deposit insurance scheme.
Current financial services legislative proposals
The Austrian presidency provided an update on current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
Stability and growth pact
The Council noted the ongoing significant deviation procedures of Hungary and Romania under the stability and growth pact.
European semester 2019
The Commission presented the annual growth survey 2019, the alert mechanism report 2019 and its recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area.
Non-performing loans
The Commission presented the third progress report on implementation of the non-performing loans action plan.
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