We started today’s meeting with a discussion on macroeconomic developments. This discussion took place at a time of significant turbulence. The situation in the Middle East is deeply concerning. Besides the economic turmoil, we are witnessing a tragic situation with broad geopolitical repercussions. In this time of crisis, the EU stands in solidarity with its friends in the region and the people affected. 2025 was a positive year for the European economy, with higher-than-expected growth, supported by stabilising inflation, stronger domestic demand, robust labour markets and favourable financing conditions. Today, however, we find ourselves in a quite different environment. We are closely monitoring market reactions to developments in the Middle East - and this is what dominates international headlines. The European economy has the capacity and the resilience to absorb temporary shocks. But at the same time, we must be prepared for a more prolonged period of instability, with potential disruptions to shipping, increases in energy prices and implications for inflation. Energy is at the centre of our attention. Instability in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine remind us how vulnerable energy markets are and how exposed our economies might remain to external shocks. We are seeing upward pressure on energy prices, and we discussed the types of measures that member states are considering, along with the need to remain coordinated in action while monitoring the situation on the ground. This is pertinent for the protection of our citizens and for the protection of our businesses. We have faced disruptions in imported energy supply before, and this will certainly not be the last time. However, energy grids and our overall energy architecture are built over longer time horizons and require a clear strategic vision, as well as a stable and credible policy and regulatory framework. For this reason, alongside the discussion on immediate developments in energy markets, we also examined the structural aspects of energy in Europe. We focused on accelerating the energy transition, further developing and interconnecting European energy grids, ensuring well-functioning and integrated energy markets, and supporting investment in energy infrastructure, energy efficiency and energy security. In this context, we benefited from useful contributions from the European Commission and from two external guests, Christian Zinglersen and Damian Cortinas. We also heard the perspective of the European Investment Bank from its President, Nadia Calviño. At the same time, the current situation highlights something which in my view is much broader: Europe cannot remain in a constant mode of crisis management. Europe’s strategy must go beyond the crises of the moment. We have this duality in the nature of our approach, because on the one hand, we're trying to resolve the outstanding issues of the past; and on the other hand, we're trying to reply to the emerging crisis and the emerging challenges of tomorrow. Recent developments reinforce our conviction that we must move faster to strengthen our economy along with Europe’s strategic autonomy. Important steps have already been taken in recent years, but what is now required are leaps forward, along with more decisive action. Crises do not change our objective. They accelerate the need to achieve it. The Eurogroup also addressed fiscal issues and endorsed the Eurogroup statement on the Belgian draft budgetary plan for 2026. We welcome the submission of this plan and agree with the Commission assessment that this plan is considered compliant with the net expenditure path recommended by the Council. Today we furthermore held the first session in our new digital finance workstream. As I outlined in the speech I delivered at the EIB Forum in Luxembourg last week, digital finance is a structural transformation in how capital is raised, allocated, settled and supervised. It's not merely technical, it's absolutely strategic. Distributed ledger technologies and tokenisation have the potential to reduce frictions and costs in payments and capital markets and help to connect companies to wider investor bases. In other words, we need to get this right. And if we do get this right, digital finance can 'compress the distance' – between savers and innovators, between small firms and deep pools of capital, and between national and EU markets. To get it right, we also need to consider the associated risks as policymakers. This is why we intend to tackle all these aspects in a series of sessions in this workstream, taking place in the coming Eurogroup meetings. Today, we benefitted from a presentation from an external guest from the industry, Jan-Oliver Sell of Qivalis. We will return to the matter regularly over the next months. We continued with a point on the upcoming Euro Summit on 19 March. I informed Ministers about the main messages of the letter which I will be sending to President Costa outlining the work of the Eurogroup over the past months on our main workstreams. This is the customary procedure. The letter will focus on macroeconomic developments, imbalances and the international role of the euro. Needless to say, digital finance is a core element of capacity building that international role, and this is why we're putting it at the epicentre of our approach. It will elaborate on two workstreams that were identified as key in our discussions on the international role of the euro: the savings and investment union and digital finance, as I just mentioned. The letter will also cover fiscal policy and competitiveness. Finally, we received a very useful update from my colleague, Carlos Cuerpo Caballero, the Spanish Minister of Economy, Trade and Business, on the ongoing work under the so-called competitiveness lab. These Member State-led initiatives are an important complement of EU efforts to develop our capital markets under the savings and investments union. Today’s debrief ensured that all countries are in the loop of that initiative, and interested member states have the opportunity to join. I hope that we can soon take stock of further progress. | 
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