The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sajid Javid)
A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) was held in Luxembourg on 10 October 2019. The UK was represented by Mark Bowman (director general, International Finance, HM Treasury). The Council discussed the following:
Budgetary instrument for convergence and competitiveness for the euro area
The European Commission presented the governance framework on the budgetary instrument for convergence and competitiveness for the euro area.
Current financial services legislative proposals
The Finnish presidency provided an update on current legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
European Court of Auditors’ annual report
The President of the Court of Auditors presented the auditors’ report on the implementation of the budget of the European Union for the 2018 financial year.
The European financial architecture for development
The chair of the high-level group of wise persons on the European financial architecture for development presented the main findings of their report to the Council. This was followed by an exchange of views.
Implementation of the anti-money laundering (AML) action plan
The Council held an exchange of views on the progress made in implementing the AML action plan to consider the future strategic priorities in this area.
Anti-money laundering directive: policy towards “high-risk third countries”
The Council held an exchange of views on the policy towards AML-related “high-risk third countries”.
European semester 2019 - lessons learnt
The Council held an exchange of views on lessons learnt from the European semester 2019.
Preparation of the G20 meeting of Finance Ministers and central bank governors and of the IMF annual meetings
The Council approved the EU’s G20 terms of reference and international monetary and financial committee statement, ahead of the annual meetings in Washington DC.
Coalition of Finance Ministers for climate action
The Finnish presidency presented the state of play of the coalition of Finance Ministers for climate action.
Appointment of a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank
The Council adopted a recommendation to the European Council on the appointment of a new member of the executive board of the European Central Bank.
Capital markets union
The Commission informed the Council on its plans on the capital markets union and the presidency outlined the next steps.
Status of the implementation of financial services legislation
The Council took stock of the status of the implementation of financial services legislation.
[HCWS30]