ECOFIN

David Gauke Excerpts

Thursday 24th March 2016 Written Statements

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held in Brussels on 8 March 2016. EU Finance Ministers discussed the following items:

Mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation

The Council held a discussion on a presidency compromise text on the Commission’s proposal to amend the directive with regards to the mandatory exchange of information in the field of taxation as part of the EU taking forward the recommendations from the OECD.

Current legislative proposals

The presidency gave an update to the Council on the state of play of financial services dossiers.

State of play of the banking union

The Commission provided an update on several dossiers linked to the banking union: the single resolution fund, the bank recovery and resolution directive and the deposit guarantee scheme directive. The presidency also provided a short update on progress to establish a European deposit insurance scheme, which the UK is not participating in.

Fiscal sustainability report 2015

Ministers adopted conclusions outlining the Council’s position on the Commission’s fiscal sustainability report.

Follow-up to the G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on 26-27 February 2016

Following the first G20 of the Chinese presidency in Shanghai on 26-27 February, the Commission and the ECOFIN chair debriefed Ministers on discussions.

European semester 2016: implementation of country-specific recommendations drawing on the country reports and in-depth reviews

The Commission reported to ECOFIN on the implementation of 2015 country-specific recommendations with a particular focus on removing the barriers to investment, following the publication of the country reports, published 26 February.

[HCWS656]