Economic and Financial Committee (European Union)

Prior the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) which began on 1 January 1999,[2] the Economic and Financial Committee was preceded by the Monetary Committee, which was established by article 105 of the Treaty of Rome in 1957.[3][4]

In May, as part of the European Semester 2016 Spring Package, the committee was tasked with making Article 126(3) reports on Belgium, Finland and Italy's government debt.[5][6]

The EFC is an advisory body, set up to promote coordination of member states' policies necessary for the functioning of the internal market. The EFC:[7]

• provides opinions at the request of the Council or the European Commission, or on its own initiative
• provides the framework for the dialogue between the Council and the European Central Bank
• contributes to the preparation of the Council's work, i.e.:
  • assesses the economic and financial situation in the member states and reports on it regularly to the Council and the Commission
  • provides input on coordination of economic and fiscal policies
  • provides contributions on financial market matters, exchange rate policies and relations with third countries and international institutions

The EFC is composed of senior officials from national administrations and EU central banks, the European Central Bank and the Commission. It meets in two different configurations: with or without national central banks.[7]

The EFC also meets in a euro area configuration: the Eurogroup Working Group (EWG), in which only the euro area countries, the Commission and the European Central Bank are represented. In this configuration, the Committee prepares the work of the Eurogroup.[7]