Main results
Presidency work programme
The Belgian Presidency presented its work programme for the first semester of the year in the field of economic and financial affairs.
We are committed to making this a successful Presidency, finalising an ambitious agenda at the end of this EU mandate. Amongst all those files, we have three main priorities. First, of course, we will focus on the economic governance review and the trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament. Second, we will work on the European Banking Union and the further deepening of the Capital Markets Union. And third, the Belgian presidency is also fully committed to continue supporting Ukraine for as long as necessary.
Vincent van Peteghem, Belgian Minister of Finance
The Presidency will focus on finalising the Union’s economic governance review, on continued financial support to Ukraine, and on legislation governing the Banking Union and the Capital Markets Union.
Moreover, the Presidency will work on narrowing the VAT gap, on EU own resources, on completing the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), and on revising legislation related to the Customs Code as well as taxation rules for cross-border teleworking.
As the Belgian Presidency will straddle the close of one European parliamentary term and the start of another, it will work to finalise major outstanding files while also stimulating discussion on the economic state of the Union and its future.
European Semester 2024
The Council initiated the annual European Semester process for the monitoring of the member states’ economic, employment and fiscal policies. The Council approved conclusions on the alert mechanism report 2024 and the annual sustainable growth survey 2024. The Council also approved the 2024 recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area. The recommendation will be submitted to the European Council for endorsement at its meeting in March after which it will be adopted by the Council at one of its upcoming Ecofin meetings.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine
Ministers took note of the state of play of the economic and financial impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. They received an update from the Commission on the economic and budgetary situation in Ukraine and discussed the EU’s financial support to Ukraine and the ongoing work on the use of frozen and immobilised assets.
G20 meeting
Ministers provided guidance for further work in view of the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors on 26-29 February 2024 in São Paulo, Brazil. The Council mandated the Economic and Financial Committee to finalise the EU G20 Terms of Reference for this meeting.
Financial services
The Presidency presented the state of play of legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
