The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Philip Hammond)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) was held in Brussels on 12 March 2019. 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 11 March meeting of the Eurogroup, and the European Commission provided an update on the current economic situation in the EU. Ministers then discussed the location of the InvestEU Investment Committee secretariat.
Excise duties
The Council discussed the directive on general arrangements for excise duty (recast); the regulation on administrative co-operation of the content of electronic registers; and the directive on the structures of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages.
Digital services tax
The Council held an exchange of views on the EU-wide digital services tax proposal.
InvestEU
The Council held an exchange of views on the location of the InvestEU Investment Committee secretariat.
Current financial services legislative proposals
The Romanian presidency provided an update on current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
European semester
Following a presentation by the Commission on its 2019 country reports, the Council held an exchange of views on the implementation of country-specific recommendations, focusing on investment in member states.
EU list of non-co-operative jurisdictions for tax purposes
The Council adopted Council conclusions revising the December 2017 EU list of non-co-operative jurisdictions for tax purposes.
Status of the implementation of financial services legislation
The Council was debriefed on the status of the implementation of financial services legislation.
Coalition for climate action
The Finnish Finance Minister informed the Council on plans to launch the coalition for climate action in the context of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings in April.
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