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Economic and Financial Affairs Council, 13 November 2025
Main results
During the Council meeting, ministers agreed on measures to tackle the sharp increase on small parcels flooding the EU market. The Council also discussed the revision of the energy taxation directive and approved annual conclusions on EU statistics. At the breakfast preceding the meeting, ministers discussed financing for Ukraine and international corporate taxation.
I would like to thank all member states for a very constructive ECOFIN meeting where they confirmed the commitment to address Ukraine’s financing needs for the coming years. We exchanged views on the options for support, notably the Commission’s proposal on the reparations loan. The Danish presidency views the proposal put forward by the Commission as the best and most realistic option, and it should be treated as a matter of highest priority with a view to decisions at the European Council in December.
We are also pleased to have reached a political agreement on removing the €150 customs threshold, ensuring that custom duties are paid from the first euro, a key step for fair competition and the competitiveness of European businesses.
Stephanie Lose, Danish minister of finance
Energy taxation
The Council held a policy debate on the revision of the energy taxation directive.
Ministers intervened to give their views on the compromise text. While many ministers were ready to support an agreement on the compromise, others felt that further work was needed on certain aspects, mainly related to competitiveness.
In particular, some ministers were unable to agree on the directive citing specific concerns with issues such as the provisions on indexation, on the taxation of fuel used in the maritime and aviation sectors, and on the tax treatment of natural gas and liquefied natural gas, as well as links with other climate related files.
Concluding the session, the Presidency regretted that the Council did not seem in a position to agree on the compromise text at this point.
The Council today took action to tackle the influx to the EU of small parcels that are currently not liable for customs duties - a problem that leads to unfair competition for EU sellers and that raises environmental concerns.
I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement on eliminating the €150 customs threshold. We ensure that duties are paid from the first euro, creating a level playing field for European businesses and limiting the influx of low-cost goods. We also agreed on the need to work towards a temporary solution as soon as possible in 2026.
Stephanie Lose, Danish minister for economic affairs
First, EU finance ministers agreed to abolish the current rule that allows goods worth under €150 to enter the EU without customs duties being paid. Once the EU customs data hub - the proposed EU central platform for interacting with customs and strengthening controls - becomes operational, currently expected in 2028, relevant customs duties will apply to all goods entering the EU.
Due to the urgency of the situation, the Council also made a commitment today to work towards a simple, temporary solution to levy customs duties on such goods as soon as possible in 2026 and until the customs data hub becomes operational in 2028. Work to develop the solution will continue in the coming weeks.
The Council adopted implementing decisions approving targeted amendments submitted by Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Luxembourg, Romania, and Slovakia to their recovery and resilience plans.
The RRF is the EU’s large-scale financial support programme in response to the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has posed to the European economy. It is the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU, a temporary recovery instrument that allows the Commission to raise funds to help repair the immediate economic and social damage caused by the pandemic.
To benefit from the facility, member states must submit recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) to the Commission, setting out the reforms and investments they intend to implement by the end of August 2026.
To date, around €367 billion has been disbursed from the RRF.
The Council approved conclusions on the progress made on the EU’s statistical priorities.
Comparable, reliable and high-quality statistics are a basic ingredient for evidence-based policymaking, especially for economic policy coordination.
Therefore, the annual Council conclusions on statistics review the quality, timeliness and relevance of official EU statistics, including those underpinning the EU’s economic governance.
The conclusions also take stock of how EU statistics can support work in other priority areas such as housing, the green and energy transitions, agriculture and fisheries, and social policy.
The Council held an exchange of views on these issues in light of recent Commission reports, published on 21 October 2025.
The ministerial discussion followed the European Council conclusions of 23 October 2025. Those conclusions reaffirmed the urgent need to advance on this agenda to ensure Europe’s competitiveness, and urging the Commission and the co-legislators to accelerate their work as a matter of utmost priority.
Ministers exchanged views on the 2025 annual report of the European fiscal board, the independent advisory body founded in 2015.
The board’s main responsibilities include providing a timely ex post evaluation of the EU fiscal governance framework implementation, advising on the euro area and national fiscal stances.
It also provides advice on the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact and makes suggestions for the future evolution of the fiscal framework.
A Macroeconomic dialogue at political level (MEDPOL) was held on 4 November, in the margins of the meeting.
The social partners exchanged views with the presidency and the two forthcoming presidencies, the Commission, the European Central Bank and the president of the Eurogroup. The meeting focused on the importance of labour market and human capital-building reforms in enhancing the EU’s competitiveness.
