Eurogroup meeting, 17 February 2020

Summary:

A meeting of the Eurogroup was held on 17 February 2020. Once again it met in its regular format as well as in its inclusive format. The agenda includes the following items:

• Appointment of Tuomas Saarenheimo as President of the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG);
• Presentations by the European Commission on:
  • Priorities for the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU);
  • Communication on the economic governance review;
• Debate on the tax wedge on labour - focusing on the shift from labour to environmental taxation - informed by a technical note prepared by the European Commission and a presentation by Ottmar Edenhofer;
• Presentation on the main findings of the 12th post-programme surveillance mission to Ireland;
• Exchange of views on the economic situation of the Eurozone on the basis of the European Commission's winter forecast;
• Discussion on the draft 2020 recommendations addressed to the Euro Area;
• Adoption of a report on a potential Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) relating to the budgetary instrument for convergence and competitiveness (BICC);
• Presentation of reports on the implications of possible participation in the banking union by Denmark and Sweden:
  • Report on participation in the banking union: Denmark
  • Report on participation in the banking union: Sweden

• Primary Source

Official

Eurogroup: Remarks by Mário Centeno following the Eurogroup meeting of 17 February 2020 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/02/17/remarks-by-mario-centeno-following-the-eurogroup-meeting-of-17-february-2020/

European Commission: Remarks by Commissioner Gentiloni at the Eurogroup press conference (17 February 2020) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_20_286

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