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The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Philip Hammond)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) will be held in Brussels on 17 May 2019. The UK will be represented by Mark Bowman (Director General, International Finance, HM Treasury). The Council will discuss the following:
Early morning session
The Eurogroup President will brief the Council on the outcomes of the 16 May meeting of the Eurogroup, and the European Commission will provide an update on the current economic situation in the EU. Ministers will then discuss the possibility of the European Investment Bank developing country strategies.
Excise duties
The Council will be invited to reach a political agreement on 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.
Economic and monetary union
The Council will hold an exchange of views on the way forward in areas of the economic and monetary union, specifically in regards to the reform support programme.
Current financial services legislative proposals
The Romanian presidency will provide an update on current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
International meetings
The presidency and Commission will update the Council on the outcomes of the G20, IMF and World Bank spring meetings that took place in April, and the Council will be invited to approve the terms of reference for the upcoming G20 meeting in June.
The Council will then hold a policy debate on digital taxation in the international context, and the Finnish delegation will debrief the Council on the first meeting of the Finance Ministers coalition for climate action.
European semester
The Council will be invited to adopt conclusions on the outcomes of the 2019 in-depth reviews of macro- economic imbalances in member states as part of the macroeconomic imbalances procedure; and the implementation of 2018 country-specific recommendations.
Institutional cycle priorities
The presidency will inform the Council on the follow-up discussions in regards to priorities for the next institutional cycle in the ECOFIN area.
Working lunch
Following on from the discussions at April informal ECOFIN in Bucharest, EU Finance Ministers will hold a working lunch to discuss the challenges of labour mobility and their potential solutions.
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