Informal Ecofin

The informal Ecofin, an informal meeting of the European ministers of economic and financial affairs of the EU to which the governors of the national central banks are also invited, takes place twice a year. This committee takes no formal decisions but is intended as a forum for the free exchange of opinions between heads of the ministries of finance and central banks. This is where most important decisions on the path to European Monetary Union and the banking union were prepared.

Economic and Financial Committee (EFC)

The Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) largely prepares the meetings of the Ecofin, ie the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers of the European Union, as well as the biannual informal Ecofin meetings. The EFC also advises the European Commission. The Bundesbank is represented on the EFC and is involved in its deliberations on the assessment of risk in the European financial system, on the state of European financial market integration and on IMF issues.

EFC Financial Stability Table

In addition to the regular meetings, the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) meets up to four times a year in an extended composition as the Financial Stability Table (FST). Its participants comprise the ECB, the European Commission and the European supervisory authorities alongside finance ministries and national central banks, including the Bundesbank.