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Economic and Financial Affairs Council, 8 December 2023
Main results
Economic governance review
The Council discussed the proposed reform of the EU’s economic governance framework.
We have made very significant progress on the basis of the intense consultations we’ve had over the past weeks and months. We’re almost there. It was not possible to reach an agreement on all political, legal and technical consultations, but we hope to finalise this in the coming days and weeks, so that we can find a political agreement before the end of the year.
Nadia Calviño, acting Spanish first vice-president and minister for economy and digitalisation
The EU’s economic governance framework is a set of common rules for national fiscal and economic policies which apply to all member states. They serve to ensure the sustainability of public finances and promote convergence while addressing macroeconomic imbalances.
The legislative package focuses on fiscal matters. It contains three proposals:
a proposal for a new regulation on the effective coordination of economic and multilateral budgetary surveillance, replacing the existing preventive arm regulation of the Stability and Growth Pact
a proposal to amend the existing regulation on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure (EDP), which is the set of rules that come into effect if a member state breaches the Treaty reference values of 3% and 60% of GDP for public deficit and debt respectively. This is the corrective arm of the Stability and Growth Pact
a third proposal to amend the Council directive on requirements for budgetary frameworks of member states.
The presidency presented a progress report on the adjusted package for the next generation of own resources, and ministers took the opportunity to exchange views on the proposal.
The presidency presented a progress report on the ‘single currency package’, that consists of complementary legislative proposals setting the legal framework for the possible introduction of a digital euro, and addressing the legal tender status of euro cash.
Under the new rules, the digital euro would complement cash and be available to the general public.
The Council exchanged views on the state of play of the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). It adopted implementing decisions approving the amended recovery and resilience plans of Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Romania.
Among other amendments, most countries have added new REPowerEU chapters to their updated plans.
The Council took work forward on the European Semester with an exchange of views on the Annual Sustainable Growth Survey 2024, the Alert Mechanism Report 2024 and a Recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area.
The Council took note of a presidency progress report on the VAT in the Digital Age package.
In December 2022, the Commission presented the ‘VAT in the digital age’ package, which aims to help promote digitalisation in the fight against VAT fraud, support businesses and reduce administrative burden.
The package includes proposals for:
single VAT registration for businesses across the EU
VAT rules for the platform economy, related to passenger transport and short-term accommodation rental
digital reporting obligations based on e-invoicing for businesses operating across borders in the EU
The Council approved conclusions on the progress achieved by the Code of Conduct Group during the Spanish Presidency (July to December 2023), as an item without discussion.
The Council approved a report to the European Council on tax issues.
This report provides an overview of the progress achieved in the Council during the term of the Spanish Presidency (July to December 2023), as well as an overview of the state of play of the most important items under negotiation in the area of taxation.
The Council took note of a presidency progress report on the customs reform.
The customs reform sets a modern vision for EU customs so that customs authorities in the EU are properly equipped for stopping non-compliant goods, collecting more customs duties and carrying out adequate controls without putting excessive burden on authorities and traders.
We have made very significant progress on the basis of the intense consultations we’ve had over the past weeks and months. We’re almost there. It was not possible to reach an agreement on all political, legal and technical consultations, but we hope to finalise this in the coming days and weeks, so that we can find a political agreement before the end of the year.
