Meeting in an inclusive format, on Monday 4 November, the Eurogroup will adopt a statement setting out a number of political priorities to be implemented to enable the European Union to catch up in competitiveness terms with competitors such as the United States and China.
This statement, which will conclude thematic discussions initiated a year ago, “emphasises an approach based on market principles” to boost competitiveness, said a European source on Wednesday 30 October.
The draft statement, a copy of which has been obtained by Agence Europe (see EUROPE 13516/2), stresses the importance of deepening the Internal market, further integrating the energy sector and maintaining an open trade policy which also contributes to the European Union’s economic security.
On the issue of financing, the ministerial statement will reaffirm the importance of mobilising private capital to finance the EU’s climate and digital transitions. Given the narrow budgetary margin available to Member States, public authorities will above all have to create the conditions for a favourable environment for this private investment.
CMU. On Monday, the Eurogroup will continue its discussions on the Capital Markets Union (CMU), focusing on initiatives taken at national level. In accordance with a monitoring programme adopted in May (see EUROPE 13410/7), Member States must present in November the efforts made to strengthen and deepen the integration of capital markets in the EU.
According to this European diplomat, the preparatory work has enabled significant progress to be made in key areas, such as the removal of barriers to equity financing, the development of marketing infrastructures and the adaptation of acquisition criteria for SMEs.
However, discussions on the ‘Budapest Declaration’, which the EU27 will adopt on Friday 8 November (see EUROPE 13511/1), show that Member States are reluctant to announce concrete measures on the CMU (see EUROPE 13515/10). Crucial issues such as the revival of securitisation, the harmonisation of insolvency laws and the convergence of financial supervision systems for capital markets at EU level have yet to be clarified.
Macroeconomic situation. In addition, ministers will take stock of the macroeconomic situation, marked by controlled inflation across the euro area (2.0% in October) and moderate growth (0.4% in the third quarter) at the end of the year, before a more vigorous recovery in early 2025.
On Monday, the European Commission is due to present ministers with an overview of the autumn economic forecasts, which it will unveil in mid-November.
In December, the Eurogroup will decide on the multiannual budget programmes, lasting between four and seven years, which Member States will have submitted at European level. It will base its analysis on the Commission’s assessment in the second half of November.
As of Wednesday 30 October, 19 Member States had submitted their budget programmes for periods ranging from four to seven years.
See the programmes: https://aeur.eu/f/djs
According to German media reports, Germany is considering presenting a seven-year budget programme. If this is the case, “it will reduce the restrictive budgetary stance recommended for next year”, according to this European source.
Banking union. The Eurogroup will hold an exchange of views on the banking union, based on presentations by the Chairs of the Single Supervisory Board (SSB), the European authority within the ECB responsible for directive supervision of large banking groups in the euro area, and of the Single Resolution Board (SRB), the European authority responsible for resolving large banks in the event of failure (see EUROPE 13500/29).
According to this source, the discussion will focus on the operational aspects of planning a bank resolution and on reducing the administrative burden of the procedures.
Since early 2024, the ‘Single Resolution Fund’, managed by the SRB Board, has been endowed with €80 billion and is fully mutualised. But, due to Italy’s refusal, it does not benefit from the safety net that the ‘European Stability Mechanism’, the euro area’s permanent rescue fund, is supposed to provide. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion with Bernard Denuit)