European Union Finance Ministers (all but the UK) are expected to present the results of the work undertaken in recent weeks on the deepening of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on Monday 3 December at the Eurogroup meeting, when euro-area ministers alone will express their views on the national budget proposals for 2019.
This meeting will mark the end of the four sequences that have marked the agenda of the 27 ministers since September.
Following the mandate given to the Eurogroup to conduct work on deepening EMU last summer (see EUROPE 12052), Europe's ministers of finance have indeed been working on four topics: the creation of the common backstop for the Single Resolution Fund (SRF), a function to be carried out by the European Stability Mechanism (ESM; see EUROPE 12091), the reform of the ESM (see EUROPE 12108), the establishment of the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS; see EUROPE 12131) and the creation of a fiscal capacity for the euro area (see EUROPE 12140).
The results of this work will be analysed by the Heads of State or Government at the Eurozone Summit on Friday 14 December.
Ahead of the Eurogroup, several points seem to be the subject of agreement. The terms of reference for the common backstop, including decision-making, have reportedly been established, and ministers must now consider when it could be established.
On the reform of the ESM, the agreement between the Commission and the ESM for their future cooperation should be approved by the Ministers. However, the issue of the sovereign debt restructuring framework still needs to be negotiated.
Led by the Netherlands, the North European states in the Hanseatic League wish to introduce a degree of automaticity in debt restructuring when a defaulting state uses the ESM and the results of the country's debt sustainability analysis are inconclusive.
This would include facilitating the work of the ESM in the participation of private investors in the event of unsustainability of a government's debt, through a relaxation of the conditions for the activation of CAC ('collective action clauses') in the sovereign debt issuance contracts of a euro-area country.
The issue of building fiscal capacity for the euro area is also not finalised. France and Germany made a proposal in this regard in mid-November, but some States, primarily the Netherlands, are opposed to such an instrument. No text may emerge on this point, pending the conclusions of the Eurozone Summit on 14 December.
Finally, on EDIS, a progress report will be sent to the ECOFIN Council, but technical negotiations on EDIS are progressing slowly (see other news).
Draft budget plans. The eurozone's ministers of finance will also examine the 2019 draft budget plans on the basis of the Commission's opinions presented on 21 November (see EUROPE 12142).
The Italian situation will obviously be observed with enhanced surveillance (see other news).
As a reminder, the budgets of five countries - Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal and Slovenia - present risks of deviation from the budgetary path with which they must comply under the rules of the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact.
Post-program surveillance frameworks. The Commission will also present to the Eurogroup in a standard format the results of its first assessment of the reinforced supervisory framework for Greece since it finalised its third financial assistance plan (see EUROPE 12077).
The Commission will also present its conclusions on post-plan monitoring missions to Cyprus and Spain.
IMF. Finally, the International Monetary Fund will present the results of its work on the economic situation in the euro area ('Article IV' reports). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)