Video conference of economics and finance ministers, 19 May 2020

Summary:

EU Ministers responsible for financial and economic matters held a videoconference on 19 May 2020. The agenda included the following items:

• Discussion on progress achieved on the EU's response to address the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, including the adoption of the SURE scheme to mitigate unemployment;
• Presentation by the European Commission on its approach to further strengthen the EU's fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (AML);
• Discussion on how to further improve the existing AML framework;
• Adoption of conclusions on the European Semester country reports and the implementation of the 2019 country-specific recommendations (CSRs).

In the margins of the video conference, the annual economic policy dialogue between the European Union, the Western Balkans region and Turkey was also held. This year's discussion focused on the economic impact of the pandemic on the region. Participants adopted a joint statement at the end of the video conference.

• Primary Source

Official

European Commission: Remarks by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis at the ECOFIN press conference (19 May 2020) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_20_911

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 19/05/2020: Western Balkans and Turkey: Joint conclusions of the economic and financial dialogue of 19 May 2020 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/05/19/western-balkans-and-turkey-joint-conclusions-of-the-economic-and-financial-dialogue-of-19-may-2020/

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