Speaking at a meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) in Luxembourg, the Minister for Finance, Professor Edward Scicluna supported the initiative by the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB), in coordination with Member States, to set up a Task Force to address the need to strengthen project identification and development as a key measure to promote investment in Europe.

 

 

“We intend to be actively involved in the discussion of the Task Force and welcome any attention to projects related to strengthening the energy and transportation networks. These productive projects in our opinion should strengthen our individual economies, especially the smaller ones but also the European Union as a whole” Professor Edward Scicluna stated.

The Minister for Finance was attending a two day meeting on 13 and 14 October in Luxembourg covering the Euro area Finance Ministers meeting and the ECOFIN Council.

 

 

The ECOFIN Council was preceded with a Ministerial dialogue with the EFTA countries, coupled with the signing of a joint statement on company tax issues between the member states and the Swiss Federal Council.

The ECOFIN Council held a session which dealt primarily with the ongoing OECD work in the area of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. During this session, Minister Edward Scicluna stressed the importance of EU Member States adopting a coordinated position in this area, not least to ensure that the ultimate recommendations by the OECD respect the parameters of law.

Ministers reached a political agreement on the issue of Mandatory Exchange of Information in the field of taxation and held a general orientation debate on the Energy Taxation Directive.

 

 

Other topics dealt with during the meetings included a follow up debrief of meetings of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Governors, and the IMF/World Bank meetings, as well as a state of play session on the most recent developments in the EU`s Banking Union. During the informal session, Ministers had the opportunity to exchange views on the EU`s 2030 framework for climate and energy.

For the meetings, the Minister for Finance was accompanied by Ambassador Marlene Bonnici, Permanent Representative of Malta to the EU and the Permanent Secretary Mr. Alfred Camilleri.

 

           

– Tuesday, 14th October, 2014