Banking union, Greece and the need to focus less on austerity were the main topics of debate.
Under the "six pack" rules, the committee has the right to invite finance ministers to a hearing. It has already heard finance ministers from Hungary, Belgium, Greece and Spain. On 21 January it will be the turn of Italy's finance minister, Vittorio Grilli.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble noted there was no silver bullet to overcoming the crisis affecting eurozone countries, only a "step by step, pragmatic approach". He added that Member States outside the eurozone should also "make an effort on bank supervision", one of the key elements needed to overcome the crisis. On the subject of Greece, the minister explained that it was the "previous Greek elite" that failed the country and not current austerity measures.
French finance minister Pierre Moscovici commented that the eurozone needs to be completed, solidarity increased and democratic credibility strengthened. He said that over the years the EU decision-making process had gone backwards. On Greece, he added that the country "is doing what it can".
Excerpted from comments on Twitter feed:
MEP Pablo Zalba asked Schäuble if he thought ECOFIN would make progress on banking supervision. "Expectations may be too high", Schäuble answered.
When asked if it were possible for Portugal to receive better bailout terms, as Greece has done, Schäuble said that Portugal should not try to be Greece...
Answering questions on how Germany and France envisage bank recapitalisation without calling on taxpayers, Schäuble called for pragmatism; Moscovici more ambition. Asked by MEP Bessent if bank reform plans in France were going in the direction of the Liikanen recommendations, Moscovici said that France was working on striking a balance.
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