Date of release : 05-02-2005

Policy area : Economic and Financial Affairs Economic and Financial Affairs

The Prime Minister, President in Office of the "Economic and Financial Affairs" Council and President of the Eurogroup, attended the meetings of the G7 Finance Ministers, held in London on 4 and 5 February 2005.

The Finance Ministers and governors of the central banks of the world’s seven most industrialized countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) and the representatives of European institutions (Council and European Central Bank) and international institutions (International Monetary Fund and World Bank), reviewed the principal international economic issues.

In their final statement, the participants underscored that major challenges lie ahead in the short and medium term, such as fiscal and budget consolidation in the United States and Japan, or structural reforms in the labour markets and social security systems in Europe.

For Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Union is now responding to the questions raised by the structural reforms, mainly by refocusing the Lisbon Strategy and by reforming the application of the Stability and Growth Pact. "The most important thing, Jean-Claude Juncker said, will be to improve the governance of the Lisbon Process," through which the Member States will have to become more involved in the implementation of the Process via national action plans.

"All of the points raised in the G7 statement are addressed by the refocusing of the Lisbon Process and the reform of the pact’s application," Jean-Claude Juncker said."

The G7 Finance Ministers also had lengthy discussions about development cooperation, particularly in the context of the British initiative to lighten the debt of the poorest countries. For Jean-Claude Juncker, this initiative deserves substantial monitoring at the European level. That is why the President in Office of the "Economic and Financial Affairs" Council announced that this subject will be on the agenda of the Council’s meetings in February, March, and April, and that it will be the main topic for the informal meeting of the Ministers of Finance and Economy on 13 and 14 May in Luxembourg.

As for alternative financing models for development cooperation, the G7 saluted the German and French initiative to start thinking about such models now. For President Juncker, it is obvious that the European Union will have to join this effort, especially since "the countries of Europe are no longer able to achieve the Millennium Goals established by the United Nations in 2000 using their budget resources alone. Alternative revenue sources are therefore essential," Jean-Claude Juncker concluded.