“The ongoing migration crisis brought about financial challenges for Member States which Malta is all well too familiar with. Malta could thus support this flexibility being called for by some Member States. Migration is a big burden for countries that are affected, Malta included, but Italy is much more so, and we should help in any way we can,” Finance Minister Scicluna said when attending a ECOFIN meeting.

The Eurogroup and ECOFIN meetings were held in Luxembourg on 5 and 6 October. The customary meeting of Euro Finance Ministers (Eurogroup) was held on Monday where the main focus of the discussion was on the situation in Greece and the low interest environment prevailing in the Euro area.

During the breakfast session of the Council meeting, Ministers had an exchange of views on the financial implications brought about by the current migration crises, especially in the context of the EU rules on economic governance. At this stage, the Commission is still expected to come forward with guidance on how this issue is to be handled under the Stability and Growth Pact. 

During the formal meeting, Ministers also reached a political agreement on a proposal to amend the Directive on Administrative Cooperation to provide for automatic exchange of information on tax rulings.

Ministers had a debriefing on the implementation of the Banking Union and a presentation by the Commission of its action plan in connection with the Capital Markets Union initiative.

The Minister for Finance Professor Edward Scicluna was accompanied by Ambassador Marlene Bonnici, Permanent Representative of Malta to the EU and Permanent Secretary Mr Alfred Camilleri.