McCreevy to chair EcoFin as part of Irish presidency

Charlie McCreevy is to chair the first meeting of the Council of Economics and Finance Ministers of European Union (the EcoFin Council) in Brussels tomorrow.

The Minister for Finance takes over the chair of the EcoFin Council as part of Ireland's European Union presidency, which will see the EU include 10 accession countries from May 1.

McCreevy will present the programme of the Irish Presidency in the EcoFin area at his first meeting tomorrow.

The main business of the meeting otherwise will be the examination of the programmes submitted by Denmark, Austria, Finland and Sweden under the Stability and Growth Pact.

Ministers will also discuss the recent Kok Report on creating more employment in Europe. The report on employment is an important input to the Lisbon Agenda to make the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world over a 10-year period.

McCreevy will chair a total of six meetings of the Council during the presidency, one in each month, over the period to end-June.

The meetings will take place in Brussels and Luxembourg, with the exception of an informal meeting in April which will be held in Punchestown, Co Kildare.