Chaired by German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, the informal meeting of economics and finance ministers (ECOFIN) will take place in Berlin on 20/21 April 2007. As practice has it, the president of the ECB and the governors of the national central banks will also be attending. The Informal will focus on such issues as how to finance future tasks as well as the further development and stability of financial markets.
The first set of topics for discussion covers the structure of public spending and how effectively and efficiently public funds are deployed. This will be complemented by an exchange of experiences gained using results-based budgeting. In this context, the ministers will also examine the extent to which modern fiscal and economic policy can have an activating effect and can build “social bridges” to better employment prospects and social inclusion. The ministers will then concentrate both on how the financial basis needed to allow the state to perform the tasks entrusted to it may be secured over the long-term and on future trends in public revenue structures given the developments in state revenue in a globalised era.
The second set of topics is designed to offer ministers and central bank governors the opportunity to exchange their views on the state of financial market stability. As part of this discussion, they will also examine the extent to which the activity of hedge funds is connected with systemic risks. Following up on the previous Informal in Helsinki, the participants will be updated about progress on arrangements to ensure financial stability in the EU. A review of the spring meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions in Washington is also foreseen, including a discussion of the second stage of reform to IMF quotas.
With regard to taxation, the ministers will concentrate on the issue of combating VAT fraud and will debate the options offered by the reverse-charge model, under which tax debt on transactions between companies is generally shifted from the company providing the service to the recipient company.
