Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and committee members for inviting me to speak in advance of the next ECOFIN meeting on Tuesday, 17 February, in Brussels. Although it is little under a week away from the meeting, and the final agenda may change, it is a useful opportunity to discuss the issues before finance Ministers at the Council. This will be the second ECOFIN meeting under the Latvian EU Presidency, Latvia having taken over the Presidency for the first time from 1 January 2015. I understand the Latvian ambassador to Ireland already briefed the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs on 20 January on the Latvian priorities for its term.

I will also provide a brief overview of the proceedings of the January ECOFIN meeting which took place in Brussels on 27 January and at which I represented Ireland. The agenda was dominated by two main areas, investment and governance. As part of the formal agenda, several items were approved under the A list procedure - that is, without debate - including the final compromise text of the anti-money laundering directive and regulation. On the taxation side, the anti-abuse clause to the parents-subsidiary directive was adopted, along with a recommendation for a regulation amending Regulation (EC) No. 2532/98 concerning the powers of the European Central Bank to impose sanctions.

Ministers discussed the European Commission proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Fund for Strategic Investment and amending Regulations (EU) No. 1291/2013 and (EU) No. 1316/2013, as detailed in the communication An Investment Plan for Europe: European Fund for Strategic Investments, which was published on 26 November 2014. It is an initiative mobilising €315 billion of additional investment from public and private sources over the period 2015 to 2017. The Presidency updated the Council on the establishment of the ad hocworking party on the regulation, which involves the establishment of a European fund for strategic investments. Ministers had a preliminary exchange of views. This is a key priority for the Latvian Presidency, the European Commission and all member states in delivering jobs and growth for the people of Europe.

ECOFIN noted a Presidency report, Current Legislative Proposals, on the state of play in negotiations on current financial services legislative proposals. This is a standard item at each Council and keeps Ministers appraised of the latest position on the individual financial services dossiers. Ministers were then given a presentation of the Latvian Presidency six-month work programme outlining priorities in the ECOFIN area. The European Commission also made a presentation on the communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the Commission's 2015 work programme, entitled A New Start.

Minsters discussed two items under the heading of economic governance and commission communications. The first one related to the communication from the Commission on the review of the six-pack and two-pack, entitled Economic Governance Review: Report on the Application of Regulations (EU) Nos. 1173/201, 1174/2011, 175/2011, 1176/2011, 1177/2011, 472/2013 and 473/2013. The review found that, overall, the reformed governance framework introduced by this legislation proved effective, although it acknowledged that the period of the review was limited.

The second item is another communication from the Commission which clarifies the flexibility in the existing rules of the Stability and Growth Pact, entitled Making the Best Use of the Flexibility Within the Existing Rules of the Stability and Growth Pact.

The Commission presented both communications together. There was a broad-ranging discussion, and all parties agreed that progress had been made on these issues. The Council will come back to these in due course as the semester process unfolds. Finally, Ministers adopted the terms of reference under the agenda item Preparation of G20 Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on 9-10 February 2015 in Istanbul.

That was a brief overview of last month's ECOFIN meeting. Now I will turn to the draft agenda for next week's ECOFIN meeting and provide an outline of the key issues that are likely to arise. Work is continuing at the level of officials, so there may still be changes between now and the meeting in terms of content and the order of the discussion. The draft agenda is divided into two parts. The first part of the agenda relates to legislative deliberations. These are items which are held in public. The A-list items are matters agreed without debate. At present there are no items under this heading. These will only become clear as the agenda is finalised.

The next item is Investment Plan for Europe: European Fund for Strategic Investments (First Reading). Ministers are scheduled to have a state of play discussion on this issue as a follow-up to that at the January ECOFIN. The Presidency will update the Council on the progress of the ad hocworking party on the regulation. Discussions are ongoing. The Presidency is aiming to have an agreed Council position on the regulation to establish the fund by the March ECOFIN meeting in order to meet the deadline of agreement on the issue with the European Parliament by the end of June.

The final item under this portion of the agenda is the item on current legislative proposals. This is the regular update from the Presidency on the financial services files. The second part of the agenda relates to the non-legislative activities. The first matter listed is the approval of the A-list items. This is without debate. We are not aware of any items under this heading at the moment. The next item listed is 2015 annual growth survey and the 2015 alert mechanism report. Ministers will have an exchange of views and adopt the draft Council conclusions on the 2015 annual growth survey and alert mechanism report. I understand that the chief economist of the Department briefed the committee on 21 January last on this matter. The publication of the annual growth survey kick-starts the annual cycle of the European semester. The annual growth survey identifies broad reform priorities for member states, to act as a foundation for the creation of growth and jobs. The 2015 survey has three pillars: a co-ordinated boost to investment, a renewed commitment to structural reforms, and fiscal responsibility. The reform priorities set out in the draft Council conclusions, once considered and agreed by ECOFIN, are expected to be endorsed by Heads of State and Government at the European Council in March.

The alert mechanism report identifies the member states for which further analysis in the form of an in-depth review is necessary in order to decide whether an imbalance in need of policy action exists. The draft conclusions note the Commission's intention to publish analytical work for the 16 member states whose readings suggest they are in need of further analysis. These are expected to be published later this month.

The next agenda item is a follow-up to the G20 meeting of finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on 9-10 February 2015 in Istanbul. This is an information point. Terms of reference were adopted by the Council at the January ECOFIN and the item will provide an update on the discussion and outcome of the meeting.

Next on the agenda is a Council recommendation on the discharge procedure in respect of the implementation of the budget for 2013. The discharge procedure is the annual process whereby the Council makes a recommendation to the European Parliament on whether to grant discharge to the European Commission for the manner in which the annual budget has been spent. At ECOFIN, the Council will be asked to consider and endorse the outcome of Council working group and COREPER deliberations on the Council's discharge recommendation to the European Parliament on budget 2013. This is an annual item and requires a qualified majority vote.

Next up is the draft Council conclusions on the European budget guidelines for 2016. The budget guidelines are the Council's input to the Commission preparations for the 2016 budget proposal, reflecting the Council's priorities for the following year's budget. At ECOFIN, the Council is expected to endorse the draft guidelines.

Turning to the next item, first assessment report of the high level group on own resources, there will be a presentation by Mr. Mario Monti, chairman of the high level group on own resources, which was established with the aim of undertaking a general review of the EU own-resources system. That is the system by which the EU budget is financed. At ECOFIN, the group's chair will present the first assessment report, which was published last December. This initial assessment is a scene-setting document which, among other things, provides a background analysis of the current own-resources system, outlines the position of the various stakeholder institutions and highlights the issues to be considered in achieving reform in this area. It does not raise any issues of concern for Ireland.

The final item on the agenda is under the heading of any other business. No items are listed on the agenda under this heading at the moment.

I trust the Chairman found the summary of last month's ECOFIN meeting and the outline of this month's ECOFIN agenda informative. I believe they give a good insight into the current issues before the Council. I thank the committee for its attention and, at this point, I am happy to respond to any questions or observations members may have.