ECOFIN and Eurogroup meetings, 5-6 December 2016

Vice-President Dombrovskis and Commissioner Moscovici will represent the Commission at the Eurogroup meetings on Monday. A first working session will be dedicated to euro area Member States’ Draft Budgetary Plans for 2017 and the Commission’s Opinions on them issued on 16 November. Ministers will also look into the budgetary situation and prospects of the euro area as a whole. The first session will be concluded by a press conference, which will be web-streamed live on EbS. The Eurogroup discussions will resume in the afternoon. During the second session, Ministers will take stock of the progress made in implementing the Greek stability support programme. A second press conference will follow the afternoon working session. On Tuesday, Vice-President Dombrovskis,Vice-President Katainen and Commissioner Moscovici will take part in the ECOFIN Council meeting, where Ministers are due to agree their position on a Commission proposal to extend, expand and reinforce the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the heart of the Juncker Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe, and adopt conclusions on addressing investment bottlenecks. The Council will be called on to agree a general approach on the Commission’s proposal to amend the existing anti-tax avoidance directive by addressing loopholes, known as hybrid mismatches, with third countries. The Council will also take stock of the progress on a proposal for a financial transactions tax in 10 EU countries. The Commission will present the new comprehensive package of reforms to further strengthen the resilience of EU banks, which was put forward by the Commission on 23 November. The Slovak Council presidency will present a report on the progress made in technical discussions on the proposal to establish a European Deposit Insurance Scheme. Finally, Ministers will discuss the Commission’s European Semester Autumn package of 16 November, and in particular the Commission’s recommendation on a Council recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area.