Finance Minister Makis Keravnos will travel to Brussels on January 18 to participate in the Eurogroup session and chair the ECOFIN Council meetings, where eurozone economic priorities and member state recovery plans will be addressed.
- To wrap up the session, the council will make a decision to initiate an excessive deficit procedure for Finland.
Keravnos’s agenda will kick off on January 19 with a Eurogroup meeting focused on Bulgaria’s adoption of the Euro. This gathering will see finance ministers exchanging views on economic policy priorities for the Eurozone aimed at 2026, utilising recommendations from the European Commission issued in November.
In this session, there will also be a briefing on the outcomes of recent G7 finance meetings. France, which is set to hold the presidency of the Eurogroup in 2026, will present its specific objectives to the group. A discussion regarding the candidacies for the vice-presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB) is also anticipated.
On January 20, Keravnos will chair the ECOFIN Council proceedings, commencing with an exchange of views on the work programme for economic and fiscal matters under the Cyprus Presidency. Following this, the finance ministers will deliberate on the ongoing economic and fiscal impacts stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The ECOFIN session is also expected to see the adoption of revised Recovery and Resilience Plans for several countries, including Spain, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Finland. Additionally, as part of the 2026 European Semester for economic policy coordination within the EU, the ministers will adopt conclusions regarding the 2026 Alert Mechanism Report. This crucial report will identify member states requiring in-depth analyses to assess if they are experiencing macroeconomic imbalances that necessitate specific policy actions.
To wrap up the session, the council will make a decision to initiate an excessive deficit procedure for Finland.
