Minister for Finance Edward Scicluna met his Dutch and Slovak counterparts, Mr Jeroen Dijsselbom and Mr Peter Kažimír, on Thursday 5 November in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, in preparation for the three countries’ upcoming presidency trio of the Council of the EU, from January 2016 till June 2017. The three ministers exchanged views on the policy and political priorities of their respective presidencies and of the presidency trio as a whole.
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE MINISTRY FOR FINANCE
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In a communication issued by the trio, it was stated that an agreement was reached on the need to continue work on the banking union with a view to enhancing the stability of the EU banking sector and on developing the capital markets union in order to boost investment and growth in the EU. The ministers discussed ways to improve the economic and fiscal governance of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), with a focus on better implementation of fiscal and structural policies and on macroeconomic stability in the EU. They also agreed that the fight against tax avoidance and tax evasion will remain one of the important policy objectives of the upcoming presidency trio. Particular attention will also be given to full implementation of all three pillars of the Investment Plan for Europe.
The ministers will continue their close working relations and update each other informally about their preparations for the presidency of the Council of the EU, in the margins of future meetings of the ECOFIN Council.
In Bratislava, Minister Scicluna also participated in a session of the TATRA Summit, a prominent annual international conference on the most current European political, economic and financial issues, that was launched by the independent civic association Centre for European Affairs in 2013. It brings together hundreds of influential political, business and academic personalities. The other participants in the session, which focused on “unfinished business in the EMU”, were the Minister of Finance of Austria, Mr Hans Jörg Schelling, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Slovakia, Mr Peter Kažimír, and Bruegel Director, Mr Guntram Wolff. European Commission Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, Mr Valdis Dombrobskis, delivered the keynote address.
Friday 6th November 2015