The EU Finance Ministers will have a videoconference meeting on Thursday 16 April at 3:30 pm.
According to an EU source, the only definitive decision expected will be the approval of an EU Council declaration calling on banks to continue lending to households and businesses in difficulty as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure the insurance sector continues to function (see EUROPE 12463/3).
The statement calls for flexible application of banking prudential rules “at a time when sufficient funding to cover financial pressures is vital for the economy”. Member States are also calling on the banks and insurance companies to temporarily suspend dividend payments to their shareholders so that they can use this capital to meet urgent financing needs arising from the crisis.
The text will be approved without discussion, as was previously agreed in principle in early April.
SURE. The Croatian Presidency of the EU Council will provide an overview of the planned timetable for legislative work on the proposal to establish the SURE instrument for unemployment reinsurance (see EUROPE 12460/1).
“The variables are known, but still need to be specified in the text”, the EU source added, stating that several “weeks” of work will be needed. The source mentioned the scope of the planned instrument, which the Eurogroup has extended so that all Member States can benefit, even those that do not have a mechanism for dealing with short-time working (see EUROPE 12465/2).
On Tuesday, the national experts on the EU Council discussed the legislative text for the first time, and will do so again next week. In the meantime, they have been asked to provide written comments on the proposal. The Netherlands is reported to have requested that a sunset clause be inserted to reinforce the temporary nature of the SURE instrument.
Economic situation. Ministers will assess the economic impact of the coronavirus on the EU economy, as on Tuesday the IMF predicted a 3% drop in GDP worldwide and a 7.5% drop in GDP in the euro area.
The re-focusing of national stability programmes will be discussed as part of the ‘European Semester’ budgetary process, in an unprecedented context where the Stability and Growth Pact has been frozen to allow Member States to commit the necessary expenditure to tackle Covid-19.
With one week to go before the next European Summit, several delegations are likely to emphasise the importance of setting up a specific Recovery Fund to support economic recovery. But there is no need to repeat the discussion that took place in the Eurogroup. It is now up to European leaders to provide their guidelines on Thursday 23 April.
Lastly, the ministers will be briefed on the outcomes of a number of emergency international meetings, particularly the ‘G20 Finance’ meeting on Wednesday 15 April and the meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the political management body of the IMF, on Thursday 16 April. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana and Mathieu Bion)