Date of release : 09-05-2005

Policy area : Economic and Financial Affairs Economic and Financial Affairs

Event : Informal ECOFIN Meeting

The Finance Ministers of the EU Member States, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Governors of the national central Banks, will meet on Friday and Saturday, 13 and 14 May 2005, in Luxembourg for the traditional informal "Ecofin" meeting.

To set the scene, the Finance Ministers of the twelve Euro zone Member States will meet within the framework of the Eurogroup.

The various meetings will be chaired by the Luxembourg Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, in his capacity as President in office of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council and Chairman of the Eurogroup.

The Luxembourg delegation will be chaired by the Minister of the Economy, Jeannot Krecké, and the Minister for the Treasury and the Budget, Luc Frieden.

The Eurogroup meeting will be devoted mainly to an analysis of the international and European economy and economic climate. Against this background, the Ministers will discuss, in particular, the section devoted to the Euro zone in the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPG).

The Eurogroup will also prepare its reaction to the report to be published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), devoted to an examination of the Euro zone.

Finally, at their informal meeting, ministers will take the opportunity to have an open exchange of views on the development of the external representation of the Euro zone, with a view to a similar debate later at the "Ecofin" Council on the external representation of the European Union in the domain that falls within the competence of the Ecofin Council.

The informal "Ecofin", as it is called, will be asked to discuss the project on the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines, with a view to the adoption in June of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council's Report to the European Council of 16 and 17 June 2005.

Along the same lines, ministers will discuss financial perspectives for the 2007 to 2013 period, a subject that is also expected to be politically agreed by the June 16th and 17th European Council.

The informal "Ecofin" will then examine the progress of the situation and work on the stability of the financial system in the European Union. It is expected that a Memorandum of Understanding on the management of financial crises in the European Union will be approved by the Ministers, the Central Banks and the Financial Sector Supervisory Bodies.

With a view to defining European positions and proposals at the international meetings planned between now and the autumn, the informal "Ecofin" will be asked to define a common European strategy for the financing of development and relief of debt in developing countries.