Preparation of the Eurogroup and ECOFIN meetings, Luxembourg 16-17 June

Vice-President Dombrovskis and Commissioner Moscovici will represent the European Commission at today’s Eurogroup meeting in Luxembourg. The Eurogroup will discuss the IMF’s annual review and recommendation to the euro area, inflation and exchange rate developments as well as the sustainability of pensions systems in the euro area. Commissioner Moscovici will participate in the press conference concluding the meeting. Vice-President Dombrovskis, Commissioner Moscovici and Commissioner Hill will represent the Commission at the ECOFIN meeting tomorrow, where the agenda will cover corporate tax avoidance, the Banking Union, the Financial Transaction Tax, the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) and VAT. More specifically, Member States will be asked to agree on far-reaching new rules to tackle loopholes which some multinational companies use to avoid paying their fair share of tax. An exchange of views will be held on a roadmap to strengthen the Banking Union, which will be presented by the Dutch Presidency. Ministers will also be updated on the current state-of-play on the ongoing enhanced cooperation procedure towards a Financial Transaction Tax, following today’s meeting of the ten participating Member States.Ministers will discuss the latest economic package comprising the Country-Specific Recommendations (CSRs) and countries that would exit the Excessive Deficit Procedure (Cyprus, Ireland, Slovenia). They will also take stock of the first stage of deepening the Economic and Monetary Union in view of the upcoming European Council. The Commission will set out its first assessment of requests for a derogation to put in place a reverse charge mechanism for VAT in certain countries. It will also present the first results of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), following the June 1 Communication Taking stock of the Investment Plan for Europe and next steps. Ministers will also take stock of EU progress in fighting terrorist financing.