The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform Paschal Donohoe is in Brussels today to chair the first Eurogroup meeting of the year.
Finance Minister Michael McGrath is also attending today's meeting.
The Eurogroup meeting of European Finance Ministers will begin with a presentation by the International Monetary Fund on the outcome of its staff visit to the euro area and ministers will also hear from the institutions on their assessment of the latest macroeconomic developments and outlook.
Ministers are then expected to discuss the draft recommendations on the economic policy of euro area for 2024, ahead of their approval at the EU Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN).
While in Brussels, Minister Donohoe will also meet with newly appointed Spanish Finance Minister, Carlos Cuerpo and will attend an event to mark the launch of Belgium's Council Presidency with Belgian Finance Minister Vincent van Peteghem.
Tomorrow, the Eurogroup President will attend the ministerial meeting of ECOFIN to debrief on Eurogroup discussions.
"The first Eurogroup meeting of the new year is an opportunity to reaffirm our priorities for the time ahead. Our work centres on four key themes, the coordination of economic policy; competitiveness of the euro area; continuing on work on the future of European Capital Markets; and our shared currency, including its international role, the digital euro project, and euro area enlargement," Mr Donohoe said.
Minister McGrath said he welcomed the incoming Belgian Presidency and look forward to working with them over the coming months to advance the many work streams at ECOFIN that have a big impact on the day to day lives of EU citizens.
"Key issues on the agenda this month are the latest elements of the European Semester Package for 2024, the economic and financial impact of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the EU’s priorities for the Brazilian presidency of the G20," he added.
