The last ECOFIN under the Hellenic Presidency, chaired by the Greek Minister of Finance, Gikas Hardouvelis, is taking place in Luxembourg on 20 June.

During the working breakfast, Ministers will be debriefed on the Eurogroup and the economic situation.

The main session will commence with the Commission presenting to the Council the EU’s draft general budget for 2015.

The Council will be called upon to agree on an amendment to EU tax rules (Parent Subsidiaries Directive 2011/96/EU) to prevent double non-taxation of corporate groups deriving from hybrid loan arrangements.

Under “other business”, the Presidency will provide information on the on-going work on financial services dossiers. The Commission will brief the Council on the preparation of implementing legislation that will determine the contributions to be paid by banks to resolution funds established under the recently-agreed directive on Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) and the Regulation on the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM).

As part of the European Semester 2014 process, the Council is due to approve country-specific recommendations to the member states on their economic and fiscal policies, as well as a specific recommendation on the economic policies of the member states of the euro area.

The Council is also expected to adopt a recommendation regarding the Commission's proposal on the adoption of the euro by Lithuania from 1 January 2015.

Both the country-specific recommendations and the recommendation on Lithuania adopting the euro will be referred to the European Council before decisions are taken.

Furthermore, the Council, in the framework of the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact, is expected to abrogate excessive deficit procedures for Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovakia, and to endorse terms of reference on the review of the methodology for assessing effective action in the context of the excessive deficit procedure (EDP).

Finally, the Council is expected to approve without discussion:

-       a six-monthly report to the European Council on tax issues and a report on tax issues by Finance Ministers of countries participating in the Euro Plus Pact;

-       conclusions on implementation of a Code of Conduct for business taxation aimed at eliminating situations of harmful tax competition, in the light of a six-monthly report of the work of the Code of Conduct Group under the Hellenic Presidency;

-       conclusions and a report on progress on a draft directive aimed at introducing a standard VAT return;

-       a report on progress on a draft directive on the taxation of energy products and electricity.

In the margins of the ECOFIN and in advance of the scheduled Eurogroup on Thursday, 19 June, the European Stability Mechanism will hold the Annual Meeting of its Board of Governors, which is composed of euro area Finance Ministers.

A press conference will be held at the end of the ECOFIN.

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