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Economic and Financial Affairs Council, 11 March 2025
Main results
Defence financing
The Council meeting was preceded by an informal ministerial discussion on the defence expenditure and their treatment in the economic governance framework.
The ministers are determined to secure financing that matches Europe’s defence needs. We are discussing solutions that will significantly increase financial firepower of the EU.
Andrzej Domański, Minister of Finance of Poland
Competitiveness, simplification and improving the EU’s business environment
The Commission presented the two first ‘Omnibus packages’, adopted on 26 February 2025, on sustainability and investment simplification.
Ministers continued their exchange of views on competitiveness, simplification and improving the business environment in Europe.
Administrative cooperation in the field of taxation (DAC 9)
The Council reached a political agreement on amending the directive on administrative cooperation in taxation (DAC9).
The new legislation will enhance cooperation and information exchange on minimum effective corporate taxation to better fulfil the filing obligations that multinational enterprise groups and large-scale domestic groups have under the Pillar 2 Directive which transposed into EU law the corresponding part of the G20/OECD global agreement. This agreement was reached to reduce the risks of avoid base erosion and profit shifting, ensuring that large corporations pay a minimum effective taxation.
We’re making the next step in implementing the rules on minimum effective taxation of the largest multinationals. The companies concerned will have a single format for filing relevant information, and member states’ tax authorities will closely cooperate on exchanging relevant information. This will significantly simplify the filing process and reduce the administrative burden both for tax authorities and companies concerned.
Ministers exchanged views on the economic and financial impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including on the implementation of EU restrictive measures and sanctions with a particular focus on their practical application in the customs area.
The Presidency and the Commission debriefed the Council on the main outcomes of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting on 26-27 February 2025.
The Council mandated the Economic and Financial Committee to prepare the G20 EU terms of reference and the statement to the IMFC in view of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting on 23-24 April and the IMF Spring meetings.
Under the A-items, the Council approved conclusions on decluttering and simplification in the tax field, and formally adopted the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package, that was agreed last November.
Macroeconomic dialogue at political level (MEDPOL)
The current and two incoming presidencies (Poland, Denmark and Cyprus) brought together the social partners, the European Central Bank, the President of the Eurogroup and the Commission for the twice-yearly macro-economic dialogue at political level on 10 March.
The meeting offered the opportunity for social partners to express their views on:
The recent developments of the economic situation
The key regulatory barriers that contribute to the fragmentation of the single market for services”.
