During the Dutch Presidency, the following Councils will meet to discuss this policy area:

- 05-07-2004 - Brussels - Belgium
- 16-07-2004 - Brussels - Belgium
- 10-09-2004 t/m 11-09-2004 - Scheveningen - The Netherlands
- 21-10-2004 - Luxembourg - Luxembourg
- 16-11-2004 - Brussels - Belgium
- 25-11-2004 - Brussels - Belgium
- 07-12-2004 - Brussels - Belgium
Click here for a full list of upcoming meetings

About ECOFIN
The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) is composed of the finance ministers of the 25 member states of the European Union (EU). Ecofin meets formally every month in Brussels or Luxembourg, and holds an informal meting every six months in the country of the rotating Presidency.

Ecofin deals with the following policy areas:

- Economic and Monetary Union;
- the coordination of budgetary and economic policy;
- the improvement of the economic structure of EU member states;
- fiscal cooperation;
- the EU budget, including monitoring this budget.

Through their cooperation in Ecofin, the member states can further common objectives such as price stability, economic growth and lower unemployment.
Prior to each Ecofin meeting, the finance ministers from EMU member states consult at “Eurogroup” meetings, where no formal decisions are made.

Economic and Monetary Union
The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) comprises twelve EU member states. Of the 15 "old" member states, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Denmark do not participate in EMU. Since its launch in the 1950s, the aim of the EU -or initially the European Community- has been to achieve the closer integration of the member states’ economies. EMU, and its crowning achievement, the introduction of the euro as a common currency, is a vital step forwards in this respect. The euro has now been introduced in the twelve EMU countries, with the European Central Bank determining the monetary policy of this "eurozone". The countries that joined the EU on 1 May will also be able to introduce the euro in the longer term, but they will first have to fulfil the same convergence criteria as were required of the present euro countries.

Coordination of economic policies
EU member states, especially those with a common currency, must coordinate their economic policies, given the growing interdependence of the EMU economies and the need to avoid harmful spillover effects. Two major instruments for monitoring member states’ economic policies are:
- the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines;
- the stability and convergence programmes.
Ecofin adopts the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines annually following proposals submitted by the European Commission. They provide a framework for the EU as a whole and for each individual member state. They identify structural reforms that will be needed in the medium and long term to strengthen the competitiveness of individual countries and of the EU itself. Where many countries are concerned, the Guidelines emphasise the need to improve and expand the scope for the operation of market forces. The smoother operation of market forces will make the economy more flexible, promote growth, and hasten the transition to a knowledge economy.

In 2003, to streamline the coordination of economic policy, the EU adopted the first cohesive package of guidelines for its own economic policies and those of its member states over the next three years. This package comprises broad economic policy guidelines (BEPGs), employment guidelines and an internal market strategy. New packages of this kind will be presented at three-year intervals. A brief period will be set aside annually for making adjustments in response to major developments. Emphasis will be placed on the implementation of the guidelines, rather than their formulation.
In addition, the member states annually send the Commission detailed accounts of their budgetary policies and policy plans for the next three years, in connection with the Stability and Growth Pact. After assessing this information, the Commission makes recommendations for each member state to the ECOFIN Council. Both the EC Treaty and the Stability and Growth Pact contain provisions on budgetary discipline.

Improvements in the economic structure of member states
To promote international competition, it is essential to make structural reforms in the member states’ labour, production and capital markets. By adopting an approach at European level, countries can achieve not only national objectives, but their shared long-term objectives as well.

Fiscal cooperation: taxes and charges
European cooperation in the realm of taxes and charges helps to promote the goals of improving the operation of the internal market and suppressing unfair competition. There is also an increased amount of cooperation between national tax authorities.

National governments bear responsibility for direct taxation, such as income tax. The EU’s tax policy focuses on the percentages applied in indirect taxation, of which VAT and excise duties are good examples. These can directly affect the internal market. The policy is also designed to ensure that tax rules do not restrict the free movement of capital within the EU, and conversely to ensure that the free movement of capital does not create opportunities for tax evasion. EU policy is also geared towards harmonising tax rules that could restrict the right of EU citizens to work wherever they choose in the EU.

The EU seldom interferes in personal taxation. There are two exceptions, however: it seeks to ensure that pensions are fairly taxed for all and that governments get a fair share of the tax due on interest income.

The EU budget
All the EU’s revenue and expenditure must be estimated for each budget year and incorporated into the Community budget. The Union’s total annual expenditure is about 100 billion euros.

This expenditure is paid for out of the contributions of the member states. These constitute the Union’s revenue, which fund its expenditure. The EU’s expenditure can be divided into the following areas:
- the common agricultural policy (CAP);
- the structural and cohesion funds;
- internal policy;
- external policy;
- support for candidate countries;
- other expenditure.

There is a separate arrangement for spending on the Common Foreign and Security Policy and on internal security and justice (the EU’s second and third “pillars”, respectively). To supplement the EU budget, individual member states may also finance activities in these areas. The member states are responsible for financing EU-related military cooperation.
Each spring, Ecofin formulates the guidelines for the budget for the coming year. It also scrutinises all programmes that would have an appreciable impact on the budget beforehand, and plays a major role in drafting the European Commission’s multiyear estimates, known as the Financial Perspectives.