The finance ministers of the Twenty-Seven (all but the British) will discuss, on Friday 13 September, at an informal meeting of the Eurogroup in Helsinki, the future fiscal capacity for the euro area, while the major donors of the Nineteen will discuss public spending, the transparency of the Eurogroup's work and the future economic policies of the Italian and Greek governments.
It is the issue of future fiscal capacity for the euro area that will be at the heart of a wider-format discussion, with 27 Member States.
Following the partial agreement reached at the June Eurogroup meeting (see EUROPE 12275/1), endorsed by EU leaders at the Euro Summit one week later (see EUROPE 12280/1), negotiations will continue in an attempt to reach a comprehensive agreement by the end of the year. The question of the financial allocation of this future instrument, which is part of the discussions on the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027, how to finance it and the question of governance, is still being considered.
This will be the first real exchange on the subject since the June Eurogroup meeting, with the July meeting having focused on the organisation of work during this semester (see EUROPE 12290/14).
While the Twenty-Seven were very divided on the contours of this future fiscal capacity in June, positions did not change during the summer, as acknowledged by a European source. There should therefore be no radical advances or changes at this meeting.
Transparency. At a meeting of the nineteen, the euro area finance ministers will also discuss how to make the Eurogroup's work more transparent.
An initiative was launched by the former president of this informal entity, the Dutchman Jeroen Dijsselbloem, in 2016 (see EUROPE 11488/15). The participants of this meeting will report on progress and explore ways to enhance transparency, including through communication.
Italian and Greek economic policies. In addition, the Greek and Italian Finance Ministers, recently inducted into their countries ‘government, will present to their colleagues the economic programme of their respective governments.
The situation of the two countries is closely monitored by the Eurogroup, with Greece being subject to an enhanced post-programme surveillance framework (see EUROPE 12305/8), while the Italian fiscal trajectory is closely scrutinised by Rome’s partners (see EUROPE 12288/10).
As for Greece, Finance Minister Christos Staïkouras is expected to present Athens' intention to make an early repayment of a loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) (see EUROPE 12323/11).
ECB The call for applications to replace Benoît Coeuré, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), will also be launched at this meeting. Mr Coeuré is scheduled to leave his position on December 31 of this year.
Public spending. A discussion, again involving the nineteen countries, will also take place on growth and employment, this time focusing on public spending in the various countries of the euro area.
Ireland, G7. In addition, euro area finance ministers will be informed of the outcome of the eleventh post-programme surveillance mission recently carried out in Ireland.
Finally, a brief report of the Biarritz G7 meeting will be presented (see EUROPE 12313/2, 12313/3). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)