Remarks by Commissioner Dombrovskis at the ECOFIN press conference

Thank you. Good afternoon everyone. 

We had a busy agenda today, covering a broad range of issues. 

We began this morning with discussion on the impact of uncertain international environment on the macroeconomic outlook.  

We discussed recent announcements from the new US administration regarding trade policies, and also regarding the US commitment to security in Europe. 

On tariffs, the EU will react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers for free and fair trade which threaten European businesses, workers, and consumers. 

On essential security, it is clear that we need to mobilise ambitious investments in our defence capabilities and defence industry both at the EU land national level.  

And we need to do it now.  

The EU will continue to insist on the benefits of multilateral cooperation and rules-based global system.  

This will also be the key message that we will bring to the upcoming G20 meetings in Cape Town.  

We also discussed the new US administration's announcements in relation to the OECD Global Tax Deal. 

We especially regret these announcements given that the US and EU have always shared the same interest in curbing profit shifting to low-tax jurisdictions. 

Profit shifting and tax avoidance deprives both jurisdictions of tax revenues in the similar way.  

We will continue to value global solutions to addressing international tax problems and remain committed to the obligations which we undertook in the OECD over the last years. 

Today we also exchanged views on Ukraine. 

The EU approach to support Ukraine as long as it takes and to increase political and economic pressure on aggressor Russia remains unchanged.  

To stop Russia, Europe must urgently boost its own security and defence, and continue to support Ukraine. We will step up and it's a crucial moment right now

Already now in regards of Ukraine support Europe has brought more than anyone else. 

Financially, this year alone, the EU's support to Ukraine's budget will be over EUR 30 billion euro through the Ukraine Facility and G7 ERA loans initiative.  

As we are approaching the third-year mark since Russia's full-scale invasion, we are preparing further measures to hit Russia, following the extension of sanctions on 27 January for another six months. 

We must ensure that sanctions are implemented fully and effectively. This includes decisively targeting circumvention attempts. 

Supporting Ukraine is the soundest investment in our long-term prosperity and resilience that we can possibly make. We need a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine as only option for security in Europe.  

The Commission today presented its Competitiveness Compass and ministers also discussed our ambitious simplification agenda. 

Simplification is at the center of our plan to achieve a more competitive Europe. 

We cannot continue business as usual. 

We must take decisive action to unleash people, business and authorities to realise Europe's full potential. 

It is important to stress that our commitment to securing the green and digital transitions has not wavered. 

However, we need to be mindful of how we get there. 

We will present the first in a series of simplification proposals in the coming weeks. 

The Omnibus packages outlined in the 2025 Commission Work Programme will be our first deliverables of this mandate. 

This effort will continue over the course of the whole mandate. 

I look forward working with Member States and national authorities on all levels to help deliver on our ambitious simplification agenda. 

Then on our Economic governance, following Commission's positive assessment, today's meeting endorsed Hungary's medium-term fiscal-structural plan and issued a revised recommendation under the excessive deficit procedure - to reflect the plan. 

Now it's time to deliver. 

All 22 Member States where the Council has adopted its recommendation on the medium-term fiscal structural plans should now focus on implementation to achieve the fiscal trajectory and deliver the investment and reform commitments set out in their plans. 

The Commission will present its first assessments as part of the European Semester Spring Package based on progress reports submitted by Member States by the end of April.  

Then the Commission provided our regular update on progress with the implementation of NextGenerationEU and the Recovery and Resilience Facility. 

The Commission has now received a total of 86 payment requests from 26 Member States, which has led to the disbursement of €306 billion euro by the end of last year. 

The Commission has recently adopted positive preliminary assessments of payment requests for Estonia, Cyprus, and Finland and we expect the disbursements to follow soon.  

We expect a number of further payment requests to be submitted in the upcoming weeks. 

I would like to welcome today's endorsement of revised plans for Latvia and Belgium. 

As we are in the final two years of the RRF, it becomes even more crucial for Member States to continue to focus on fully on implementation of their recovery and resilience plans. 

Thank you.