The Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) Council was held in Brussels on March 11. It gave the Presidency an updated mandate to negotiate with the European Parliament on a Regulation for a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) for banks.

In this context, the Greek Finance a Minister and ECOFIN chairman Yannis Stournaras will travel to Strasbourg today (12.03) to participate in discussions with Euro deputies. "We are going to the European Parliament in order to reach an agreement," he stated.

It called for a conclusion of the talks on the proposed SRM in time for the Parliament's plenary session on April 14 to 17, so as to enable the regulation to be adopted before the end of the Parliament's current legislature, which ends in May.

The Council further discussed the amended Savings Taxation Directive, an important tool in the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion. The presidency's intention is for the new rules to be adopted before the end of March, following endorsement by the European Council.