Ireland's Department of Finance sets out Paschal Donohoe’s agenda for Eurogroup and ECOFIN, including digital euro and stablecoin discussions

Ireland's Department of Finance published an overview of Minister for Finance and Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe’s planned engagements in Brussels, where he will chair the Eurogroup and represent Ireland at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, alongside the bi-annual Macroeconomic Dialogue at Political Level and annual EU and European Free Trade Association finance ministers’ meetings. The Eurogroup agenda includes discussion of recent macroeconomic and fiscal developments, inflation and the euro area outlook, and agreement on the Eurogroup’s role in fiscal policy coordination, informed by debriefs from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings. In Banking Union format, the Chairs of the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the Single Resolution Board will provide their twice-yearly updates on the health of the euro area banking system, while inclusive discussions will cover an update from the European Central Bank and the Danish Presidency on the digital euro and an exchange on recent stablecoin developments. ECOFIN discussions will cover Ukraine’s financing needs, the state of play on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development pillar 2 tax reforms, and the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive, alongside updates on financial services legislative proposals and the European Commission’s simplification progress reports; the Council is expected to approve targeted amendments to the Recovery and Resilience Plans of Croatia, Belgium, Estonia, Slovakia, Luxembourg and Romania.