The Diplomat
The First Vice-President and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, picked up the baton of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union yesterday in Luxembourg from the Swedish Minister of Finance, Elisabeth Svantesson.
Svantesson presented Calviño with a bouquet of flowers, a crystal candle holder of a traditional Swedish brand in the shape of a snow globe and the bell used by the rotating Presidency of the EU during the Council meetings. The symbolic act took place during the meeting of finance ministers of the Council of the European Union (ECOFIN), held yesterday in Luxembourg.
Correspondingly, the Vice President presented her Swedish counterpart with a bonbonniere from the Galician handicraft factory of Sagardelos. “It is a piece of traditional pottery, original from the region where I was born and where we will hold the informal ECOFIN meeting, in Santiago de Compostela,” Calviño explained to her during the handover.
The Ministers of Economy and Finance of the European Union will meet in Santiago de Compostela on September 15 and 16. Ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean will also participate in the meeting to align development agendas, strengthen geopolitical ties and boost trade relations between the two regions.
During the ECOFIN meeting yesterday, the ministers addressed the adaptation of VAT to the digital transition to effectively fight tax fraud, discussed the proposed reform of the economic governance framework based on the guidelines presented on March 14 by the Council, approved country-specific recommendations on the 2023 national reform programs, and issued their opinions on the updated stability or convergence programs, addressed the economic and financial impact of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including the economic and financial situation in Ukraine and the implementation of EU macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, and discussed the Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism, including the extension of the deadline that will allow the Commission to finance firefighting aircraft and helicopters.
