On 11 March, four Ministers from our political family met to address the public and private financing solutions for European defence and transatlantic trade.
The meeting, chaired by ALDE Party Vice-President Rik Daems (Open VLD, BE), preceded the Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council of the European Union in Brussels.
Key topics related to defence included a focus on the supply side of security spendings, the role of the European Investment Bank and the benefits of coalitions of the willing in parallel and beyond EU structures, notably with the United Kingdom and Norway.
On EU-US trade, Ministers aligned their collective resolve and reaffirmed unity when negotiating with the current US administration.
Additionally, participants also discussed the economic and financial impact of the defence investments announced at the special European Council meeting on 6 March.
The list of participants included:
- Klemen Boštjančič, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance (Gibanje Svoboda!, SI)
- Eelco Heinen, Minister of Finance (VVD, NL)
- Éric Lombard, Minister of Economy, Finances and Industry (FR)
- Stephanie Lose, Minister for Economic Affairs (Venstre, DK)
Click here for all the pictures from the meeting.