The Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery, and Reform and President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, T.D., is in Luxembourg today (Monday) to chair the October Eurogroup meeting of European Finance Ministers.
The Eurogroup meeting will begin in inclusive format (EU27) for a transatlantic economic dialogue with US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen. Ministers will exchange views on the global outlook and risks, with the aim of building a common understanding of the interconnected, short- and long-term challenges in Europe and the US, and the necessary economic and financial policies going forward.
Continuing the work on considering the future of European capital and financial markets, Ministers will be joined by two guest speakers: growth equity investor Zoé Fabian, who will provide the perspective of institutional investors within the EU, and Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna, who will share the perspective of high-growth companies looking for funding to scale up.
Minister Donohoe will then prepare with Ministers for the Euro Summit at the end of October, where he will update EU Leaders on the latest work of the Eurogroup and the economic outlook for the euro area.
Moving into the regular Eurogroup format, Ministers will take stock of the implementation of last year’s euro area recommendations and the contribution of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, based on analysis from the Commission.
They will also take stock of the digital euro project, with an update from ECB President Christine Lagarde ahead of the expected Governing Council decision on whether to proceed with the next phase of the project which would include testing and piloting of a possible digital euro.
Finally, the Eurogroup President, together with the Commission and ECB, and the IMFC President Nadia Calviño, will debrief Ministers on the main themes and key policy issues that emerged from the G7 and the Annual Meetings in Marrakech last week.
Speaking ahead of Eurogroup, Minister Donohoe commented:
“I’m very pleased to welcome Secretary Yellen to what is now our third transatlantic economic dialogue within the Eurogroup and look forward to sharing perspectives around the table with an important ally and partner of Europe.
We will also discuss further the future of European capital and financial markets, and we will be joined by two guests from industry. Zoé and Sebastian will inform us of their respective experiences as an investor and an innovative European company looking for funding. This exchange is part of our longer-term work to build a political consensus that can inform the mandate of the next Commission as well as countries’ capital markets development strategies. Our goal is to create the conditions for thriving capital markets in Europe that can offer more private funding for EU companies so they can innovate, be competitive, and have the capacity to invest in the green and digital transitions.”
On Tuesday, the Eurogroup President will attend the ministerial meeting on EU Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN). While in Luxembourg, Minister Donohoe will meet with Commissioner McGuinness to discuss issues including the Crisis Management and Deposit Insurance framework banking legislation, the Eurogroup’s work on the future of European capital and financial markets, and the progress of the Commission’s digital euro legislation. He will also meet bilaterally with Bulgarian Finance Minister, Assen Vassilev, to discuss Bulgaria’s euro accession pathway.
ENDS