14 October 2022

Remarks by Paschal Donohoe following the informal meeting of Eurogroup ministers in inclusive format with the US Treasury Secretary,

This meeting, the dialogue, the discussion that we had symbolises everything that we stand for in these moments of great challenge dealing with risks through coming together, dialogue, cooperation, and anchoring our cooperation in values that are shared and values that .. are very, very precious.

Today, the 27 members of the Eurogroup in inclusive format met with the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. We were also delighted to have the managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, in attendance.

This was a historic moment for the Eurogroup. It is the first time that we have met in this way outside of Europe.

The meeting that we had today had one item on the agenda. That item was the transatlantic macroeconomic outlook and risks. And understandably, this discussion here today focused on the respective outlooks for the United States and for Europe and the current risks that are posed by the war in Ukraine and by the energy crisis.

But the overriding political theme from the meeting and from all contributors to the meeting was the value of unity, the unity of all of the countries in attendance to standing up for values that Europe and America hold in common.

Those values of freedom, liberty, democracy, respect for human dignity and human rights, respect for equality and above all, the rule of law. These are values that we all cherish, whether they are in the Constitution of the United States or the values that underpin the European Union. And they provide a guide for us in a world that is very quickly changing.

As finance ministers of the European Union and working in coordination with the Secretary to the Treasury of the United States, we are united in how we protect these values. We are doing this through our financial assistance to the brave people of Ukraine who are standing up for these values in the face of the most appalling aggression from Russia. We are doing so at home through economic support to vulnerable households and businesses, to protect living standards and employment; and we are doing this with global partners by offering long term, stable economic relationships for countries that adopt those values and work with us to further them.

The work and the resources that are required at the moment to do this are considerable. We acknowledge that this work is challenging. However, these values are so fundamental to our economic prosperity and growth that our countries are showing today that we will protect them.

The core theme of the work here in the IMF during the week is the fact that we need solutions to the interlinked challenges that we now face. The challenges are so significant that no country, no matter how big, can create all the solutions on its own. So this is why within Europe we know that we have to continue to work together to find new ways of coordinating our efforts so that we can achieve more collectively than we can individually.

The meeting today provided an opportunity to assess our efforts with regard to this. It followed on from the meeting that we had in July 2021, where we assessed where we were with other challenges at that time. Today, we have reiterated our determination to work with our friends and partners in the United States of America to together tackle the interconnected, short and long run challenges which mean that economic and financial policies will need to be aligned.

I want to just conclude by stating that these kind of meetings are so valuable as an opportunity to remind us of how much we have in common. While the outlook is indeed so challenging at the moment, I'm absolutely convinced, particularly after our meeting this morning, that Europe and the United States will continue to show resilience. We will continue to show resolve and we will come out of these uncertain times stronger and even more united.

Council of EU

© Council of the European Union