Eurogroup meeting, 11th of June – Agenda Highlights

Economic and financial situation in the euro area

The Eurogroup will exchange views on the economic and financial situation in the euro area. Ministers will also be briefed on the developments in financial markets following the outcome of the UK referendum on EU membership on 23 June.

Post-programme surveillance in Ireland and Portugal

The Eurogroup will be informed about the main outcomes of the fifth post-programme surveillance review in Ireland and the fourth post-programme surveillance review in Portugal.

The aim of post-programme surveillance is to assess whether a member state that has received financial assistance under a programme is continuing to implement sound policies and whether there is any risk that it may not be able to repay its loans. The post-programme surveillance continues until at least 75% of the financial assistance received has been repaid.

Staff from the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the European Stability Mechanism and the International Monetary Fund carried out the two surveillance missions in June 2016. The full reports will be available later this summer.

Stability and Growth Pact – implementation in the euro area countries

The Eurogroup intends to exchange views on the budgetary situation in Spain and Portugal on the basis of possible recommendations by the European Commission relating to the excessive deficit procedure in these countries. Any decisions based on the Commission’s recommendations will be taken by the Council of the EU.

Euro area fiscal stance

The Eurogroup is expected to discuss the euro area fiscal stance based on national stability programmes submitted by the eurozone member states in the context of the European Semester in April this year.

The debate will feed into the member states’ preparation of their budgetary plans for 2017 later in the year.

Thematic discussion on growth and jobs: investment in the euro area

The Eurogroup will continue its series of thematic discussions on growth and jobs, this time focusing on investment. Ministers will exchange views and share best practices on how to address structural and regulatory obstacles to investment.

This discussion is complementary to broader, EU-wide, initiatives to remove bottlenecks to investment. Reviving investment is of particular importance to the euro area, as it is seen as a means to help with rebalancing in the common currency area.