Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The finance and economy ministers of the European Union countries continue their discussions that began yesterday in Luxembourg and were initiated by the meeting of the ministers of the euro area countries. The meetings are expanding today to include the rest of the member states of the unified European bloc, and the ministers today review the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The Council will seek to adopt executive decisions approving the modified recovery and resilience plans submitted by some member states. The ministers will be informed of the current situation of the economic and financial impact of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The Council will also exchange views on the lessons learned from the 2024 cycle of the European semester.

Climate Finance
The Council will seek to approve conclusions on climate finance in light of the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29, from 11 to 22 November 2024.

Taxation: The EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions
The Council will seek to approve conclusions on the review of the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. Ministers will receive regular updates on the list based on the work of the Code of Conduct (Business Taxes).

Financial Services
The Presidency will present the latest developments in the implementation of EU legislation in the area of ​​financial services.
At the end of the Eurogroup ministers’ discussions yesterday, a European statement said: “The ministers exchanged views on the key policy factors shaping the digital euro in the broader context of European payment systems, following presentations by the European Central Bank and updates by the European Commission and the Council Presidency. Pascal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup, said: “Any decision to introduce a digital euro needs to ensure that the euro remains relevant to a rapidly changing digital and payments world.”
Competitiveness in the euro area: a discussion aimed at completing the workstream
The ministers held a discussion aimed at moving forward towards completing the one-year workstream on the competitiveness of the European economy.
The Eurogroup President identified the key messages emerging from the draft statement and engaged in an exchange of views with the ministers on this basis.
“Our aim within the Eurogroup is to provide a comprehensive strategic vision of some of the common policy priorities of the finance ministers, which can in turn generate new momentum for efforts at national and European level,” according to Pascal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup
Capital Markets Union: Taking stock
The ministers discussed the follow-up to the Eurogroup statement on the future of the Capital Markets Union from March 2024, with a focus on measures to facilitate access to capital markets for small and medium-sized enterprises.
EIB President Nadia Calvino briefed ministers on the EIB’s initiatives in this context.

“Maintaining the political momentum on the Capital Markets Union is an important priority for the Eurogroup. In November, we will revisit this and assess the various steps taken at national level since we started this project less than a year ago,” said Pascal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup
Preparing for the Eurogroup Summit in October
The Eurogroup President outlined the main points in his letter to the President of the Eurogroup Summit, where he spoke about the work of the Eurogroup since March 2024 and outlined plans for the coming months.
The Eurogroup reviewed recent economic and exchange rate developments ahead of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, based on the Commission’s analyses and the views of the European Central Bank.
Policy priorities of the French government
The new French Minister of the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, Antoine Armand, presented the policy priorities of the new French government.