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Economic and Financial Committee

Economic and Financial Committee

The Economic and Financial Committee is a committee of the European Union set up to promote policy coordination among the Member States. It provides opinions at the request of the Council of the European Union or the European Commission. Its preparatory work for the Council includes assessments of the economic and financial situation, the coordination of economic and fiscal policies, contributions on financial market matters, exchange rate polices and relations with third countries and international institutions. This Committee also provides the framework for preparing and pursuing the dialogue between the Council and the European Central Bank.

The Committee is composed of senior officials from national administrations and central banks, the ECB and the Commission. Since the amendment of the Statutes of the Economic and Financial Committee in 2003, the committee may meet in two different configurations i.e. with or without national central banks.

The Committee also meets in a euro area configuration, the so called Eurogroup Working Group (EWG), in which only the Euro Area Member States, the Commission and the European Central Bank are represented. In this configuration, the Committee prepares the work of the Eurogroup.

The Committee has a President elected by a majority of its members for a renewable two-year term. The President represents the Committee, including in its relations with the European Parliament.

The current President of the Committee is Tuomas Saarenheimo, who succeeded Hans Vijlbrief.