Remarks by Commissioner Dombrovskis at the ECOFIN press conference
Thank you Minister. Good afternoon, everyone.
Indeed, we had a busy agenda at our last ECOFIN meeting of the year.
As usual, we took stock of the economic situation and economic outlook at today’s meeting.
I presented to the ministers the main findings of our Autumn Economic Forecast.
It indicates a gradual resumption of growth, the continued reduction of inflation and a strong labour market performance. All that, however, in a context of high uncertainty.
With regard to public finances, government deficits are set to narrow slightly but debt ratios continue to edge up. This stresses the need for sustained and gradual debt reduction strategies in line with the new economic governance framework.
The Commission recently presented the first European Semester Autumn Package since the ambitious and comprehensive reform of the EU’s new economic governance framework entered into force.
It included the Commission’s assessment for 21 out of the 22 medium-term plans submitted by Member States.
The assessment of Hungary’s medium-term plan remains ongoing.
According to our assessment, 20 of the 21 plans met the requirements of the new framework, which is good news.
It is encouraging that the plans contain relevant reforms and investments that boost sustainable growth and fiscal sustainability, and respond to common EU priorities.
It is also positive that public investment is set to increase further next year.
The Commission also presented the proposed net expenditure paths to correct the excessive deficit for the eight Member States (Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia).
We look forward to the adoption by the Council of the recommendations on those plans in January, and to a credible implementation of all those plans by all Member States.
The Commission provided our regular update on progress with the implementation of Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
At this stage, total disbursements – including pre-financing – amount to €269 billion.
This represents 42% of the total RRF allocation.
This year, so far, we have disbursed €48.7 billion to Member States.
We hope that, by the end of the year, the total disbursement figure will rise above €300 billion.
As we enter the final two years of the RRF, it remains essential that all Member States remain focused on fully implementing the commitments set out in their recovery and resilience plans.
In this context, I would like to welcome today’s endorsement of revised Recovery and Resilience Plans of Sweden, Belgium, Slovenia and Denmark.
As Minister already outlined, we held a discussion on the revision of the energy taxation directive. Further work is still needed to reach an agreement. It is important that all sectors make a fair contribution to decarbonising of our economy.
As regards the reform of the Customs Union, I am we confident the Council will achieve a timely mandate to negotiate with the European Parliament under the Polish Presidency.
We also discussed the situation in Ukraine, which is experiencing another difficult winter as Russia’s brutal war continues.
Despite the ongoing Russian attacks against critical infrastructure, Ukraine’s economy has remained remarkably resilient.
However, it will still rely on the support of its friends and partners to meet its financing needs next year.
This is where the Ukraine Facility and the new G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration loans will play a crucial role.
On the ERA initiative, all the necessary legal agreements with Ukraine have now been signed by both the EU and Ukraine.
Our G7 partners are making important progress towards the operationalisation of their ERA loans to Ukraine.
As for the Ukraine Facility, we are moving forward towards making the next disbursement worth €4.1 billion.
This will take the total disbursements in this first year of the Facility to over €16 billion.
This support underlines the unwavering commitment of the EU and its G7 partners to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom and the security of Europe.
Finally, today was the last ECOFIN meeting under the Hungarian Presidency.
But this also marks the last meeting of ECOFIN’s longest-serving member.
I would like to thank you, Minister, for all your cooperation and work throughout the years.
I wish you the very best in your new capacity as a Governor of the Hungarian National Bank.
Thank you.
