Remarks by Commissioner Dombrovskis at the Eurogroup press conference

Thank you, Paschal. Good evening, everyone.

First of all, I would like to congratulate Paschal on his re-election as President of the Eurogroup.

Today's outcome shows the strong confidence that euro area finance ministers place in your leadership.

I look forward to continuing our close collaboration to address the challenges and seize the opportunities that lie ahead for the euro area.

Moving on to other important topics that we discussed today.

I would like to thank President Lagarde for presenting the European Central Bank's report on the international role of the euro at today's meeting.

Increasing the euro's global status would bring tangible benefits to EU and euro area Member States, businesses and households.

This includes lower borrowing costs, reduced risks from currency fluctuations, and greater strategic autonomy.

Ultimately, the international role of a currency is determined by its attractiveness to foreign investors and by the stability and performance of our economy.

This report is timely.

We are navigating a period of significant upheaval and transformation of the global geopolitical landscape which present challenges, but also opportunities.

Europe is an island of stability in an increasingly turbulent world.

We offer investors certainty, predictability and a rule-of-law based business environment.

We must now make the most of these advantages.

More work needs to be done to make Europe even more attractive to investors and to allow the euro to live up to its full potential.

Now is the moment to take decisive steps.

Investors will follow our progress in boosting competitiveness, expanding trade, simplifying our rules and making the most of Europe's Single Market by tearing down its remaining barriers in the months and years ahead.

This brings me to the importance and urgency of making progress on two other points on today's agenda.

The first is the digital euro.

Member States have already discussed all the key points of this proposal.

The task now is to identify landing zones and steer this file towards a conclusion.

This means finding agreement on the remaining open issues, including holding limits.

We look forward to the Danish Presidency engaging with Member States to find a final agreement on these issues.

The European Commission, as always, is ready to provide all the necessary technical support to facilitate progress.

The second point is the Savings and Investments Union.

The open, well-functioning, and integrated European capital markets that the Savings and Investments Union aims to establish are essential to attract investment and enhance the international role of the euro.

Today's meeting provided an opportunity for the Commission to update ministers on the actions we are undertaking to make Europe's capital markets deeper, more liquid, and better integrated.

It also allowed ministers to exchange on how national policy measures to develop domestic capital markets can contribute to further integrating Europe's national capital markets.

Very briefly, today we discussed the euro area's fiscal stance, with input from the European Fiscal Board.

Overall, the Commission agrees with the European Fiscal Board's on the need for a balanced approach to fiscal policy in the coming years, balancing the need to invest in Europe's defence capabilities while ensuring debt sustainability.

And finally, as Paschal already mentioned, we had discussions on Bulgaria's euro accession and conversion rate where the Commission has prepared the relevant recommendation for a final decision by ECOFIN tomorrow.

Thank you.