EcoFin Meeting

The EcoFin Meeting is the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, one of 10 Council configurations (fixed ministerial formats by topic). It brings together economy and finance ministers from all 27 EU member states, plus relevant European Commissioners (EU executive officials). Specialised working parties (expert groups) and Coreper II (ambassadors committee) prepare its work, while budget sessions add national budget ministers. It publishes no statistic or forecast; it adopts laws, recommendations, conclusions, implementing decisions and Council positions (agreed policy texts); it sets no interest rates.

It meets roughly once a month on a weekday morning in Brussels; the Eurogroup (euro-area ministers) meets the day before. Exact start times appear on each meeting page, the calendar lists future and past meetings and results appear the same afternoon.

Extra sessions can be called at short notice. Informal ones last 2 days in the country holding the rotating presidency. Some sessions take place in Luxembourg in April, June and October, and the Budget session meets at least once a year.

Background briefs, provisional agendas and A items lists appear before each meeting. Press releases, participant lists, voting results, press conferences and video footage follow it. The agenda stays provisional until adopted; there is no statistical revision, and adopted acts appear in the Official Journal until changed.

6 standing pillars shape each agenda; no economic data is released.

• Coordination of economic policies: sound public finances, reforms, investment and excessive-deficit checks against the 3% deficit and 60% debt limits.
• Taxation: common company and indirect-tax standards, free movement of goods and services and fraud fighting; tax law needs unanimity (full agreement).
• Financial markets and banking: deeper capital markets union (EU plan for freer investment), safer banks, stable finance and saver protection.

• The euro: legal and practical aspects of the single currency, including euro-area enlargement.
• The EU budget: preparing and adopting the yearly budget with the European Parliament (EU lawmakers) and own-resources decisions (EU funding rules).
• External representation: joint EU positions for the G20 (major-economies forum), IMF and World Bank (global lenders) and climate-finance talks.

The extraordinary weekend session of 9/10 May 2010 showed this crisis role, approving up to EUR 500 billion to preserve financial stability.

It created a Treaty-based fund of up to EUR 60 billion with strong conditionality (strict reform terms) alongside joint EU/IMF support. Euro-area states added a vehicle of up to EUR 440 billion for 3 years, with the IMF adding at least half the EU share. Greece's loan was cleared for payment; Spain and Portugal pledged extra consolidation measures for 2010 and 2011. Ordinary meetings then resumed monthly coordination.

1. Ordinary qualified majority: needs at least 15 of 27 states (55%) whose people are at least 65% of the EU total. Case with 24 yes votes and 90% of people passes both tests. A case with 16 yes votes holding only 60% of people fails the population test.

1. Blocking minority: at least 4 states must oppose to block; 3 large states cannot block alone on population. Even 24 yes votes with only 55% of people still pass if only 3 states oppose, holding 45%.

1. Reinforced majority: without a Commission or High Representative proposal, needs 20 of 27 (72%) plus 65% of people.

1. Unanimity for tax: tax harmonisation (shared indirect-tax rules) needs every voting state to agree after consulting Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee.

1. Euro-only votes: euro-area measures are voted only by the 20 euro states, under the same population test.

1. Quorum and start: a majority of members must be physically present, and the president opens each vote. Simple majority (over half) applies only to internal rules.

1. Publication: debates and votes on laws are public and adopted acts appear in the Official Journal; urgent acts may use the written procedure.