Finance Minister Constantinos Petrides departed for Brussels on Monday to take part in the Eurogroup meeting taking place on the same day and the Ecofin (Economic and Financial Affairs Council) meeting on Tuesday.

At the Eurogroup, finance ministers exchanged views on the international dimension of euro area economic and financial policies with Janet Yellen, the United States Secretary of the Treasury. The discussion focused on the economic recovery as well as on banking and financial stability issues.

Ministers will also discuss the budgetary situation and prospects in the euro area as a whole, and will focus on prospects for 2022. The chairman of the European Fiscal Board, Niels Thygesen, was invited to the meeting and is expected to present the EFB`s recently published report.

The European Commission will also present its assessment based on its analysis of the 2021 stability programmes. The discussion will feed into the preparation of the draft budgetary plans and the recommendations for the euro area for 2022.

At the Economic and Financial Affairs Council, on 13 July, ministers will focus on the economic recovery. They will exchange views on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and adopt the first batch of Council implementing decisions on member states’ recovery and resilience plans