The European finance ministers will hold, on Tuesday 17 October in Luxembourg, a further exchange of views on the reform of the European economic governance framework, and they will update the European lists of third countries that do not cooperate sufficiently from a fiscal point of view.
During a public discussion on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact, the Ecofin Council will be invited to react to a note from the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union identifying initial options for an agreement on the four elements identified before the summer, namely: - institutional balance; - safeguards for reducing public debt; - creating sufficient room for manoeuvre to stimulate investment and structural reforms; - ownership and control of compliance with future European fiscal rules (see EUROPE 13222/14).
According to a diplomatic source, little has changed since the negotiations at technical level following the informal ministerial meeting in Santiago de Compostela (see EUROPE 13262/13). And although the Spanish Presidency may submit new options to the national delegations between now and Tuesday, a political agreement from the EU Council is not expected in Luxembourg.
Taxation. The ministers are also expected to approve an updated European ‘blacklist’ of countries and territories that are uncooperative for tax purposes. The last update took place in February (see EUROPE 13121/30). According to our information, three countries will be removed from the list, and three will be added.
The Ecofin Council is also expected to approve a revision of the EU’s ‘grey’ list of third countries and jurisdictions committed to good tax governance (see EUROPE 13173/18). Turkey is expected to stay there.
Ukraine. The Spanish Presidency will hold a briefing on the socio-economic consequences of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. This will include work on the mobilisation of frozen Russian public assets, amounting to €200 billion in the EU, for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
This work focuses on windfall profits (see EUROPE 13213/5). Before presenting a legislative initiative, the European Commission wants to be sure that all the Member States support the approach and that the international partners within the G7 are on the same wavelength, in order to create legal certainty.
On Tuesday, discussions will also focus on Ukraine’s economic situation, with the EU providing support worth €18 billion for the whole of 2023. They will also discuss further macro-financial assistance, which the Commission is proposing to increase to €50 billion over the period 2024-2027 (see EUROPE 13223/2).
RRF. On Tuesday, the EU Council will approve without debate the modification of the post-Covid-19 recovery plans for Portugal, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain. These plans all contain a ‘REPowerEU’ chapter designed to accelerate the energy transition and reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian hydrocarbons (see EUROPE 13269/20).
Finance and climate. The Ecofin Council will also approve conclusions on climate finance in the run-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), to be held in Dubai from Thursday 30 November to Tuesday 12 December (see EUROPE 13266/4).
This document will report on the progress made by the EU in this area. As every year, the total amount that the EU and the Member States allocate to financing the fight against climate change will be added at the same time. In 2022, this figure was €23.04 billion for 2021.
Finally, an update will be given on the autumn meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Marrakech. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion and Anne Damiani)