The Minister for Finance and President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe TD, will chair the Eurogroup meeting in Brussels on Monday 17 January to discuss economic resilience. He will also attend ECOFIN on Tuesday 18 January, the first of the French Presidency of the Council.
The Eurogroup will discuss the performance of the euro area economy. Finance Ministers will reflect on the resilience of the euro area economy compared to other large economies. According to the latest data, the euro area economy is recovering at a faster pace than previous crises, with 5% GDP growth estimated for 2021. The recovery is particularly evident in labour market performance, which demonstrates that the unemployment rate in the euro area (7.2%) is now slightly below the unemployment rate when COVID-19 first hit. Finance Ministers will continue to monitor broad economic developments with a view to ensuring a sustainable recovery.
The Eurogroup will establish key policy priorities for economic policy action to support the recovery. They will also exchange views on the economic governance framework applied to the euro area for the first time since the European Commission launched its review.
Finally, the Eurogroup in inclusive format will turn to Banking Union. The Eurogroup will welcome a number of new Ministers for Finance, representing Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden, Romania, and the Netherlands, and bring them up to speed on work to complete Banking Union.
Minister Donohoe will also meet bilaterally with Ministers from Austria, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic. He stated, “I look forward to chairing the first Eurogroup meeting of the New Year and hearing the policy priorities of new Governments from across Europe. We will reflect on the results of our efforts to coordinate our response to the pandemic, which has mitigated the impact on our economies, our businesses and our citizens. With many new colleagues attending Eurogroup for the first time, I hope we can begin the New Year re-energised to deliver Eurogroup’s key priorities of fiscal and economic coordination and delivering a sustainable economic recovery.”
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