McCreevy faces concern over euro

FINANCE Minister Charlie McCreevy chairs his first Ecofin meeting in Brussels today amid concern over the strength of the euro against the dollar.

He has a potentially explosive agenda before him that includes the commission’s court move against finance ministers; the Parmalat scandal and reduced VAT rates.

Up to now, the EU has been careful to play down the impact of the euro’s strength, but the first changes to this policy appeared last week when ECB president Jean Claude Trichket spoke about it. The euro weakened as a result.