COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,EUROGROUP...update

 

Press material Tuesday 7 December 2021

● Council of the EU   07/12/2021 11:36 | Press release | Council reaches agreement on updated rules for VAT rates   The Council today reached agreement on a proposal to update EU rules on rates of value added tax (VAT). The new rules reflect member states’ current needs and the EU's present policy objectives, which have changed considerably since the old rules were put in place. The updates ensure member states are treated equally and give them more flexibility to apply reduced and zero VAT rates. The rules will also phase out preferential treatments for environmentally harmful goods. Council of the EU Press release 7 December 2021 11:30 Council reaches agreement on updated rules for VAT rates The Council today reached agreement on a proposal to update EU rules on rates of value added tax (VAT). The new rules reflect member states’ current needs and the EU's present policy objectives, which have changed considerably since the old rules were put in place. The updates ensure member states are treated equally and give them more flexibility to apply reduced and zero VAT rates. The rules will also phase out preferential treatments for environmentally harmful goods. Today, we agreed on the proposal for a Council directive on rates of value added tax. This file has been discussed in the Council for a long while, and I’m glad that we have found a way to bring it to conclusion.Andrej Šircelj, Slovenian Minister for Finance The Council updated and modernised the list of goods and services for which reduced VAT rates are allowed (Annex III of the VAT directive), taking into account the digital transformation of the economy. The update of the list was driven by a number of principles, such as the benefit of the final consumer and the general interest. However, to prevent a proliferation of reduced rates, the Council decided to limit the number of items to which reduced rates could be applied. The Council also decided to ensure that all member states are treated equally. To achieve this, existing derogations that allowed some member states to apply preferential rates for certain products were opened to all member states, provided that they are compatible with the agreed principles. A new provision in the VAT directive was also added to address possible future crises and to enable member states to respond swiftly to exceptional circumstances, like pandemics, humanitarian crises or natural disasters. The Council agreed to phase out reduced VAT rates or exemptions on fossil fuels and other goods with a similar impact on greenhouse gas emissions, by 1 January 2030. Reduced rates and exemptions for chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides will end by 1 January 2032, to give small-scale farmers more time to adapt. In addition, the Council introduced environmentally-friendly goods and services in the list for which reduced rates are allowed, such as solar panels, electric bicycles and waste recycling services. Background and next steps The Commission issued its proposal to amend a Council directive on the common system of value added tax as regards rates of value added tax on 18 January 2018. Once the Parliament has issued its opinion on the proposal, the Council will formally adopt the directive. Council general approach on proposal to update rates of value added tax Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards rates of value added taxVisit the meeting page ● Council of the EU   06/12/2021 20:50 | Press release | EU to designate 2022 as the European Year of Youth   The Council and the European Parliament wish to honour young people by making 2022 the European Year of Youth. Today, both institutions provisionally agreed on a decision to follow through on this proposal. Young people have endured much hardship during the pandemic. A European Year of Youth would honour their efforts to overcome the set-backs they have experienced and which the COVID-19 crisis has caused. "The pandemic period has been particularly hard for young people. They have faced school closures, have been unable, in many cases, to pursue their hobbies and have faced difficulties seeing their friends. They deserve a European Year that will put them in the spotlight. And they deserve to be listened to when EU decision makers set about the task of shaping EU policies." Simona Kustec, Slovenian Minister of Education, Science and Sport The European Year will include conferences, events, as well as information and promotional campaigns. A national coordinator will coordinate the activities at national level. Council of the EU Press release 6 December 2021 20:50 EU to designate 2022 as the European Year of Youth The Council and the European Parliament wish to honour young people by making 2022 the European Year of Youth. Today, both institutions provisionally agreed on a decision to follow through on this proposal. Young people have endured much hardship during the pandemic. A European Year of Youth would honour their efforts to overcome the set-backs they have experienced and which the COVID-19 crisis has caused. The pandemic period has been particularly hard for young people. They have faced school closures, have been unable, in many cases, to pursue their hobbies and have faced difficulties seeing their friends. They deserve a European Year that will put them in the spotlight. And they deserve to be listened to when EU decision makers set about the task of shaping EU policies.Simona Kustec, Slovenian Minister of Education, Science and Sport The European Year will include conferences, events, as well as information and promotional campaigns. A national coordinator will coordinate the activities at national level. The Council has ensured that the draft proposal was adapted so that the European Year would also help to mainstream youth policy i.e. to ensure that all EU policies - be it environment, education or culture - take youth issues into account. The Council has also succeeded in securing a commitment from the Commission to involve young people in the implementation of the European Year, together with national coordinators. Background On 15 September, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the European Commission would propose designating 2022 as the European Year of Youth. The Commission subsequently submitted a proposal for a decision to this effect to the Council and the European Parliament. Today's provisional agreement between the Council and the European Parliament on this proposal still has to be approved by both institutions before it can be formally adopted. ● Council of the EU   06/12/2021 16:44 | Press release | Council agrees on common position to tackle gender pay gap   The Council today agreed on its position on a draft law on pay transparency which will help to tackle the existing pay discrimination at work and contribute to closing the gender pay gap. The proposed law aims to empower workers to enforce their right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through a set of binding measures on pay transparency. "There is simply no justification that women still earn much less than their male peers. With the agreement reached today in Council, the EU is taking a big step towards tackling pay discrimination and closing the gender pay gap." Janez Cigler Kralj, Minister for Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ● Eurogroup   06/12/2021 20:25 | Statements and remarks | Remarks by Paschal Donohoe following the Eurogroup meeting of 6 December 2021   I want to begin by just mentioning the anniversary that we have just commemorated today at the Eurogroup meeting. Twenty years ago, our central banks started shipping some 15 billion euro of banknotes and some 52 billion of euro coins to all corners of the euro area in readiness for the 1 January 2002 changeover to euro cash. The euro family has grown over the past 20 years, going from 11 members in 2002 to 19 today, with, we hope, more on the way. We faced many challenges during those two decades and in the next 20 years to come I know we will surely face fresh challenges but also confront and take advantage of new opportunities. It’s part of our collective responsibility, in the Eurogroup, to ensure we are ready for what lies ahead. One of the priorities is completing the Banking Union and to that end I have invited my fellow Ministers to a dinner tonight to take stock on where we are and to identify how we can move forward. Back to today's agenda. We started with Greece, taking stock of progress on the basis of the 12th enhanced surveillance report. We welcomed the progress achieved in policy reform despite the difficult circumstances of the pandemic and the terrible fires of August 2021. We gave our political agreement to the release of the sixth tranche of policy-contingent debt measures, which are worth 767 million euros. We issued a statement to this end. We then reviewed the progress of the economic situation in Spain, Cyprus, Portugal and my own country – Ireland – on the basis of the Post Programme Surveillance Reports that were presented by our institutions. These reports were overall positive and confirm that strong economic recoveries were underway in 2021, supported by vaccine rollout, European-level policies and the measures taken in each country to decisively address the pandemic situation and its economic consequences. Then, we looked to the year ahead, we discussed our joint priorities, which are reflected in the Work Programme that we have just endorsed. I want to mention two important themes: firstly supporting the recovery and long term growth and secondly strengthening the Banking Union, so a word on each. First, in the Eurogroup we will continue to coordinate our action at national and European level to support the recovery and to deliver long-term growth. In that context, we discussed the appropriate fiscal policy that we will implement for 2023. I am working with the Commission and we have identified how and by when we will look to achieve consensus on that. We also discussed the role of the Eurogroup in the debate on the future of economic governance. The second priority is with regard to strengthening the Banking Union. Because we believe that a stronger Banking Union in Europe will contribute to our recovery, more jobs and investment in Europe. We will also continue to regularly exchange views on the possible issuance of a digital euro, focusing on its political dimensions and also discussion on the future of euro area enlargement. We then moved on to our main block of policy discussions focusing on the year ahead. Kristalina Georgieva gave us an overview of the IMF’s assessment of the economic situation and policy priorities, which I know are communicated publicly as I speak. What’s important to note is that the IMF commends our coordinated policy response, which has helped the euro area economy to recover strongly in 2021 and build the grounds for good prospects for 2022. The Recovery Fund is now coming on stream and it is an important tool to help shield us from emerging health risks and boost our efforts for a sustained recovery. The emergence of new COVID variants is a reminder that policy support is still needed and that we should continue to monitor developments very closely. However, the economic recovery is strong enough now to warrant a shift from broad support measures to more targeted responses. These are also the policy priorities identified by the Commission in their proposal for a Council recommendation on the economic policies for the euro area, which Commissioner Gentiloni presented today. We also discussed in more detail fiscal policy, with our annual discussion of draft budgetary plans for the year ahead. The statement we just issued confirms the importance of maintaining moderate fiscal support in 2022, while remaining agile and ensuring that measures are well targeted as we continue to respond to health environment that changes. We welcome the Commission’s assessment that Member States’ plans are intended to support the recovery and that nationally financed investment is planned to be preserved or broadly preserved in 2022 in all euro area Member States. At the same time, we note the importance of controlling the growth of current expenditure, especially for Member States with higher debt levels. We will get back to the issue of fiscal policy guidance for 2023 early next year, based on a proposal from the Commission. That’s a quick version of our discussion today, further details are in the statements but I’ll stop here and hand over to my colleagues. ● Eurogroup   06/12/2021 18:21 | Press release | Eurogroup Statement on the Draft Budgetary Plans for 2022   The Eurogroup welcomes the Commission’s analysis of the budgetary situation in the euro area as a whole and its Opinions on the individual draft budgetary plans (DBPs) of the euro area Member States, published on 24 November. This exercise is key to the coordination of fiscal policy in the euro area. Thanks to the swift, sizeable, and well-coordinated policy action at the EU, euro-area and national level, taken against the backdrop of the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact, the euro area economy is recovering from the recession faster than expected. The Commission Autumn Forecast projects real GDP in the euro area to grow by 5% in 2021 and 4.3% in 2022. The euro area economy is expected to return to its pre-pandemic levels already by the end of the year in quarterly terms. However, the recovery is expected to be uneven across countries and sectors. Moreover, the level of uncertainty is particularly high, risks are substantial and new headwinds to the economic outlook have emerged. The strong rebound in economic activity has gone alongside an increase in inflationary pressures, including due to energy prices, after years of subdued levels of inflation in the euro area. The supply side of the economy has struggled to keep pace with the abrupt swings in the level and composition of global demand, which has created several bottlenecks in global supply chains and in the availability of raw materials and key production inputs. At the same time, labour market shortages in some sectors are also affecting supply-side dynamics. While the uncertainty about the inflation outlook has increased, the Eurogroup acknowledges the view of the institutions that heightened inflation is expected to be transitory and inflation expectations appear well-anchored. The general government deficit in the euro area is expected to narrow marginally in 2021 to 7.1% of GDP and then set to improve considerably in 2022 to 3.9% of GDP in the Commission autumn forecast. This reflects both the planned phasing out of most of the emergency fiscal measures and the expected strength of the economic recovery. Due to the pandemic shock to economic activity and the ensuing fiscal response, general government debt in the euro area rose sharply in 2020. It is expected to reach its peak this year at 100% of GDP, before starting to fall gradually in 2022 and 2023. Financing conditions are expected to remain favourable over the forecast horizon, which combined with the lengthening of maturities over the recent years, will help to keep debt-servicing costs limited. The Eurogroup agrees that a moderately supportive fiscal stance in the euro area for 2022 is appropriate for the recovery to maintain traction in the near term, also in light of the downside risks, which remain pronounced and some have already started to materialize.Taking into account the strength of the recovery, but also the recently increased risks associated with the pandemic, Member States should stay agile in their policy response. When gradually moving from generalized fiscal support to more targeted policy measures, Member States should reguarly review the use, effectiveness and adequacy of the support measures and stand ready to adapt them as necessary to changing circumstances, while safeguarding fiscal sustainability in the medium term. The Eurogroup recalls the importance of enhancing investment and the growth-friendly composition of public finances as well as robust fiscal frameworks across the euro area. These elements will help support the euro area’s growth trajectory going forward and facilitate the green and digital transition of our economies. The successful and rapid implementation of Next Generation EU, in particular the Recovery and Resilience Facility, will be key to supporting the recovery and improving the growth potential in the euro area. The Eurogroup calls for a swift and effective implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plans, as approved by the Council. We agree with the Commission’s assessment that the individual Draft Budgetary Plans are broadly in line with the fiscal policy recommendation adopted by the Council on 18 June 2021. We welcome the Commission’s assessment that, overall, individual Draft Budgetary Plans are intended to support the recovery and that nationally financed investment is planned to be preserved or broadly preserved in 2022 in all euro area Member States. The Eurogroup agrees that Member States with low or medium debt should pursue a supportive fiscal stance in 2022, while Member States with high debt should use the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to finance additional investment in support of the recovery, while pursuing a prudent fiscal policy. All Member States should preserve nationally financed investment, as planned.The Eurogroup invites those high-debt Member States, where the growth of the nationally financed current expenditure is not planned to be sufficiently limited according to the Commission’s assessment, to take the necessary measures within the national budgetary process. The Eurogroup will continue to monitor the economic situation and will reassess the policy orientation in view of the economic outlook for 2023 and beyond, the inflation and supply-side dynamics, as well as the need to ensure the medium and long-term sustainability of public finances, whilst giving priority to investment to support the twin transition. In this context, we look forward to a timely discussion on the fiscal guidance that the Commission will submit for the period ahead. The Eurogroup remains focused on the long term successful functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union, so as per our Work Programme and in cooperation with the Council Presidency and in the appropriate format, we will discuss euro-area relevant aspects of the economic governance review in order to provide input to the review launched by the Commission. Meetings Monday 6 December 2021   ● Eurogroup   Eurogroup Eurogroup, 6 December 2021 Main results IMF Article IV mission to the euro area The International Monetary Fund presented the outcome of its Article IV mission to the euro area. The Article IV review is a regular exercise in which the IMF reviews economic developments, consults with policy-makers and provides targeted policy advice. The emergence of new COVID variants is a reminder that policy support is still needed and that we should continue to monitor developments closely. Nonetheless, the economic recovery is strong enough now to warrant a shift from broad support measures to more targeted measures.Paschal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup Euro area recommendation The Commission presented its proposal for the recommendation on the economic policy of the euro area for 2022, published on 24 November. The Eurogroup exchanged views on the proposal, and will return to the topic in January 2022. 2022 Euro area recommendation (European Commission) 2022 draft budgetary plans The Eurogroup reviewed the economic and fiscal situation of the euro area member states. This discussion was based on Commission opinions on the draft budgetary plans (DBPs) of the 19 euro area member states and on the Commission communication on its overall assessment of the DBPs, published on 24 November 2021. The Eurogroup issued a statement. The statement we have just issued confirms the importance of maintaining moderate fiscal support in 2022, while remaining agile and ensuring that measures are well targeted as we continue to respond to a health environment that changes. At the same time, we note the importance of controlling the growth of current expenditure, especially for Member States with high debt levels.Paschal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup Draft budgetary plans 2022 (European Commission) Eurogroup Statement on the Draft Budgetary Plans for 2022 (6 December 2021) Twelfth enhanced surveillance report on Greece The Eurogroup discussed the twelfth enhanced surveillance report on Greece. Within this context, ministers agreed that the necessary conditions were in place to release the sixth tranche of policy-contingent debt measures. The Eurogroup issued a statement. On Greece, we welcomed the progress achieved in policy reform despite the difficult circumstances of the pandemic and the terrible fires of August 2021 and we gave our political agreement to the release of the sixth tranche of policy-contingent debt measures, which are worth 767 million euros.Paschal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup Enhanced surveillance report - Greece, November 2021 (European Commission) Eurogroup statement on Greece (6 December 2021) Post-programme surveillance The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) briefed the Eurogroup on the main findings of the post-programme surveillance reports on Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland and Spain. Post-programme surveillance starts automatically after the end of financial assistance programmes and continues until at least 75% of the financial assistance received has been repaid. The reporting occurs twice a year. Post-programme surveillance report: Cyprus (European Commission) Post-programme surveillance report: Ireland (European Commission) Post-programme surveillance report: Portugal (European Commission) Post-programme surveillance report: Spain (European Commission) Eurogroup work programme for first half of 2022 The Eurogroup adopted the work programme for the first half of next year, covering the period from January until June. Eurogroup work programme Any other business After the Eurogroup meeting, the President of the Eurogroup invited all EU economic and financial affairs ministers to an informal dinner, to discuss the banking union and the preparation of the December Euro Summit. Meeting information Brussels 6 December 2021 Preparatory documents Draft agenda, Eurogroup Draft annotated agenda, Eurogroup Outcome documents List of participants Eurogroup work programme for the first half of 2022 ● Council of the EU   06/12/2021 19:47 | MEETING | Main results - Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, 6-7 December 2021   The Council reached a general approach both on a draft EU law on minimum wages and on a proposed directive on pay transparency. It also adopted conclusions on sustainable work over the life course and on the impact of AI on gender equality in the labour market. ONGOING Council of the EU Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council, 6-7 December 2021 Main results Live streaming Live streaming 7 December 2021 08:00 Arrivals 09:30 Public session 14:30 Public session 16:30 Public session 16:45 Press conference (Health) Estimated schedule Employment and social affairs (Monday 6 December) The Council reached a general approach both on a draft EU law on minimum wages and on a proposed directive on pay transparency. It also adopted conclusions on sustainable work over the life course and on the impact of AI on gender equality in the labour market. Minimum wages The Council today agreed its position on a Commission proposal for an EU law on adequate minimum wages in the EU. In order to improve people's working and living conditions, this draft law establishes a framework to promote adequate levels of statutory minimum wages, to promote collective bargaining on wage setting and to improve the effective access to minimum wage protection of those workers who are entitled to a minimum wage. Because countries with a high collective bargaining coverage tend to have a smaller share of low-wage workers and higher minimum wages than those with low collective bargaining coverage ministers agreed that countries should promote strengthening the capacity of social partners to engage in collective bargaining. This so-called general approach reached today provides the Council presidency with a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament (who agreed on its position in late November). Work should pay. We cannot accept that people who put all their energy in their job, still live in poverty and cannot afford a decent standard of living. This law will be a great step forward towards this goal.Janez Cigler Kralj, Slovenian minister of labour, family, social affairs and equal opportunities Council agrees on mandate for negotiations on a EU framework on adequate minimum wages (press release, 6 December 2021) Pay transparency The Council also agreed its position on a draft law on pay transparency which will help to close the gender pay gap. The proposed law aims to empower workers to enforce their right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through a set of binding measures on pay transparency. Measures to improve pay transparency include: employers need to indicate the initial pay level or range to be paid to the future worker employers have to make accessible for their employees which - objective and gender-neutral - criteria are used to define their pay and career progression workers and their representatives have the right to receive information on their individual pay level and the average pay levels for workers doing the same work or work of equal value, broken down by sex Once the European Parliament (EP) has adopted its final position, the Council and the EP will negotiate a common text. There is simply no justification that women still earn much less than their male peers. With the agreement reached today in Council, the EU is taking a big step towards tackling pay discrimination and closing the gender pay gap.Janez Cigler Kralj, Slovenian minister of labour, family, social affairs and equal opportunities Council agrees on common position to tackle gender pay gap (press release, 6 December 2021) Sustainable work over the life course Europe's working-age population is shrinking and this generates risks of labour shortages and challenges to our social protection systems. Therefore our work needs to become more sustainable, through living and working conditions that allow people to engage and remain in work throughout an extended working life. This can be achieved by investing in quality jobs, fair working conditions, occupational health and safety, and up-skilling and re-skilling. Ministers approved conclusions on sustainable work over the life course. They call on member states - among other things - to take into account the new EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 and to strengthen policies to supporting people to enter and re-enter the labour market quickly. We need action to counter the trend that with people getting older we will end up with shortages in the labour market. That is why we need to strive to make work more sustainable. This would help keeping people on the labour market, increase our economic performance and boost social inclusion.Janez Cigler Kralj, Slovenian minister of labour, family, social affairs and equal opportunities Investing in occupational safety and health also has an economic benefit as work-related injuries and diseases cost society the equivalent of more than 3.3 % of GDP. Council Conclusions on sustainable work over the life course EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work) The impact of AI on gender equality in the labour market Artificial intelligence (AI) can have a different impact on women as compared to men. Artificial intelligence can for instance lead to gender biases in recruitment and to the perpetuation of stereotypes. That is why adopting a gender perspective regarding its consequences for the labour market is important. In its conclusions on the impact of AI on gender equality in the labour market, the Council is calling upon member states to (among other things): take concrete steps to improve awareness of gender equality issues in AI research and in all sectors where AI is designed, developed and used to ensure that when AI is used for the management of human resources, it promotes transparency and gender equality, particularly in the areas of pay, training, access to promotion, and career progression to ensure algorithmic transparency and to address the problem of historically biased input data in the use of AI Council Conclusions on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Gender Equality in the Labour Market Equal treatment, European Semester and Towards Europe of Equality The presidency presented a progress report to the Council on a draft directive on equal treatment, a proposal from 2008 to extend the protection against discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation to areas outside employment. Ministers also held a policy debate about the European Semester 2022, after which the Commission presented a number of surveys, reports and recommendations related to the yearly European Semester exercise, in particular the 2022 annual sustainable growth survey alert mechanism report, the draft joint employment report and the draft recommendations on the economic policy of the euro area. Ministers also endorsed the key messages of the review by the Employment Committee under the Youth Guarantee. The Youth Guarantee is a commitment of all EU member states to guarantee that all young people under the age of 30 receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship. The chair of the Social Protection Committee finally updated ministers on the national plans under the Council recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed. The Employment Committee and Social Protection Committee are preparatory bodies for the employment and social policy Council. Proposal for a Council Directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (Progress report) Other business The Council adopted an implementing regulation implementing Regulation (EU) No 208/2014 concerning restrictive measures directed against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation in Ukraine, thereby delisting one individual. The presidency also provided information on the state of play of a number of legislative proposals: a regulation on the coordination of social security systems, a directive on carcinogens and mutagens at work and a directive on gender balance on company boards. The European Commission also informed delegations on its ALMA initiative, a cross-border youth mobility scheme for disadvantaged young people aged 18-30 who are not in employment, education or training, and gave an update on the High Level Group on the future of social protection and the welfare state. Additional "other business" points included information from the Slovene delegation on its presidency conferences as well as information from the French delegation on the work programme of the incoming presidency. Agenda highlights Health (Tuesday 7 December) Health ministers will exchange views on the state of play of the current and future EU response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overview: the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic (background information) The presidency will be seeking guidance from ministers on the next steps as well as their views on the presidency proposals as regards to a Council regulation on the emergency framework regarding medical countermeasures. The Council is also expected to approve conclusions on strengthening the European Health Union. European Health Union: protecting Europeans against cross-border health threats (background information) Other matters The European Commission will inform ministers on the state of play of the pharmaceutical strategy for Europe and current and future initiatives and legislative proposals. The Slovenian presidency and the Commission will also inform ministers on the Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, the outcomes of the special World Health Assembly session on pandemic preparedness and response and on the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The French delegation will present its priorities for their upcoming presidency (January-June 2022) in the field of health. Meeting information Meeting n°3834 Brussels 6 December 2021 09:30 Preparatory documents Provisional agenda Provisional agenda, Corrigendum 1 List of A items, non-legislative activities Background brief Outcome documents List of participants 6.12.2021 List of participants 7.12.2021