A meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council was held in Luxembourg on 15 October 2013. Council discussed the following items.

Current legislative proposals

The presidency provided an update on the following financial services dossiers: central securities depositories regulation (CSDR); omnibus II; markets in financial instruments directive (MiFID); the Commission noted the formal adoption of the single supervisory mechanism (SSM); single resolution mechanism (SRM); bank recovery and resolution directive (BRRD); and deposit guarantee scheme directive (DGSD).

Preparation of the European Council on 24-25 October 2013 a) Indicators and policy areas for strengthened economic policy co-ordination:

ECOFIN held an exchange of views on indicators and policy areas for strengthened economic policy co-ordination. The Government consider that, consistent with the June European Council conclusions, participation in any new measures for economic and monetary union should be voluntary for those outside the single currency and be fully compatible with the single market. b) Commission-EIB SME initiative:

ECOFIN considered Commission-EIB designs for financing instruments aimed at leveraging finance for SMEs, of which participation in any scheme should be voluntary for member states.

European semester: Lessons from 2013 and way forward

ECOFIN held an exchange of views on lessons to be learned from the 2013 European semester.

Follow-up to G20 Finance Ministers and governors’ meeting on 10-11 October and annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group on 11-13 October in Washington

The Commission and presidency provided a short update on the outcomes of the G20 ministerial and IMF meetings in October.

Preparation of the 19th conference of parties to the United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC) in Warsaw from 11-22 November 2013

ECOFIN endorsed conclusions on climate finance ahead of the UNFCCC conference in Warsaw on 11-22 November.