THE ROLE OF THE COMMISSIONER FOR ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS

The Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs oversees the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs whose mission is to contribute to raising the economic welfare of the citizens in the European Union and beyond, notably by developing and promoting policies that ensure sustainable economic growth, a high level of employment, stable public finances and financial stability. At the present juncture, this means working to ensure that the recovery of the European economy gains strength. This entails finding the right policy-mix for overcoming the economic and financial crisis and for the EU economy to significantly reduce unemployment and to attain a sustainable growth and convergence in living standards in a stable financial and social environment.

Core Objectives are:

• to ensure a smooth functioning of the EU's Economic and Monetary Union, in good times as in  times of crises;
• to prepare the gradual enlargement of the euro area;
• to identify economic and financial challenges at an early stage, to effectively deal with and mitigate risks, and to make the EU economy more resilient to unforeseen external shocks. In this context, to support efforts to safeguard financial stability by establishing and operating an effective system of macro-prudential supervision;
• to support economic prosperity, growth and stability not only within the EU but also at the international level by shaping global economic governance and EU international economic relations with a view to advancing EU interests and putting in place an efficient and robust policy framework conducive to a sustainable and balanced growth of the global economy, supported by an efficient and stable international monetary and financial system;
• to promote economic and financial efficiency in the design of other EU policies and in the functioning of a broad range of markets, with a particular attention to addressing innovation, growth and global challenges like climate change;
• to promote the design and efficient implementation of financial instruments to promote growth and employment through the blending of EU budgetary resources with the balance sheet capacity and expertise of the European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for the Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), national public institutions and International financial institutions (IFIs);
• to provide a thorough reassessment of the institutional framework underpinning EMU required in order to achieve a genuine and well-functioning EMU in the light of the experience of recent years.

The Directorate-General aims at implementing a broad-based approach to conducting economic, budgetary, structural and financial surveillance, as a basis for timely policy assessment and policy advice.

In pursuing its objectives, the Directorate General acts under the responsibility of the Vice President for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro and the College of Commissioners and cooperate closely with other Commission Services. Main stakeholders are the Council of Economics and Finance Ministers in the EU (ECOFIN-Council), the Eurogroup and the European Parliament. Other major interlocutors within the EU are Member State authorities and the European Central Bank (ECB). At the international level, the Directorate-General works closely with partner third countries and relevant international bodies, like the G8, the G20, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Within its means, the Directorate General strives to strengthen the EU's influence in international economic and financial matters by achieving a high degree of coordination of Member States' positions and by promoting a single EU voice. The Directorate-General interacts with the academic community, market analysts and professional economists to foster EU positions and feed the debate on a broad range of economic policy issues.

In shaping consistent economic policies at EU level, the Directorate-General bases itself  on the rules provided for in the Treaty on the functioning of the EU (TFEU) or in relevant secondary legislation, notably the Stability and Growth Pact/ Excessive Deficit Procedure, the Macro-economic Imbalances Procedure, and the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines.

In order to promote a broad, informed and high quality policy debate based on sound economic analysis, the Directorate-General has an active communication policy and prepares and publishes a host of regular reports as well as numerous occasional publications. In cooperation and partnership with Member States, the Directorate-General endeavours to reach out to key stakeholders and multipliers as well as to the general public in order to raise the level of knowledge and support for Economic and Monetary Union and the Euro.

The Directorate-General maintains close working relations with the EIB Group and the EBRD (representing the EU in their Governance), but also with the World Bank Group and other multilateral development banks, with a view to promoting EU priorities and common positions and ensuring appropriate coordination of the Commission's financial cooperation with these institutions.

The Directorate-General designs and implements large-scale macro-financial assistance programmes (often in cooperation with the IMF and the World Bank) to support Member States and partner countries facing severe financial or balance of payments difficulties. It also designs and implements, in close cooperation with the EIB, EIF (European Investment Fund) and EBRD, EU-driven investment financing programmes and undertake financial assistance programmes, financial market operations and manage the treasury and assets on behalf of other Commission Services and coordinate technical assistance through the Task Forces.

For the record, the post of Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs has been held since 1958 by the following countries:

1. France: 8 times (Robert Marjolin (1958-1967), Raymond Barre (1967-1970, 1970-1972, 1972-1973), François-Xavier Ortoli (1977-1981, 1981-1985), Yves-Thibault de Silguy (1955-1999, 1999)
2. Spain: 3 times (Petro Solbes (1999-2004), Joaquim Almunia (2004, 2004-2010)
3. Finland: 2 times (Olli Rehn (2010-2014), Jyrki Katainen (2014-Present)
4. Estonia: 1 time (Siim Kallas (2004)
5. Germany: 1 time (Wilhelm Haferkamp (1973-1977)
6. Denmark: 1 time (Hennning Christophersen (1985-1995)