Minister Michael McGrath travels to Luxembourg to represent Ireland at ECOFIN and Eurogroup meetings

On Thursday 11th April, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath will travel to Luxembourg to represent Ireland at the April ECOFIN and Eurogroup meetings.

Speaking ahead of the meetings Minister McGrath stated:

"I look forward to joining my Ministerial colleagues for a busy two days of meetings. Key issues on the agenda this month are the ongoing implementation of the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility, the economic and financial impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and preparations ahead of the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and the annual meetings of the IMF in Washington."

Starting at the Eurogroup on Thursday afternoon, Minister McGrath will join his euro area colleagues in preparing for upcoming World Bank Group and IMF Spring meetings, with a specific focus on euro area exchange rate and inflation developments. This will be followed by a dialogue on competitiveness including trade performance and how to strengthen the euro in an increasingly fragmented global environment. The Eurogroup in inclusive format* will then discuss the state of play with regard to the digital euro project.

ECOFIN begins on Friday morning with a formal working breakfast and the usual updates on the economic situation as well as a debrief from Eurogroup the previous day.

Following on from the breakfast, ECOFIN Ministers will review the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, its mid-term evaluation and conclusions. There will then be an exchange of views on the economic and financial impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine including a presentation from the Commission. Following on from this, there will be further discussion ahead of the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors and the annual meetings of the IMF.

The final item on the agenda is a presentation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office on its activities, notably in matters of VAT fraud.

Note for editors

The Eurogroup in inclusive format brings together economic and finance ministers from all Member States.

The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) brings together EU finance ministers.