The Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, will participate between February 16-17, 2026, at the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), organized in Brussels, where he will take part in debates, as well as in a series of bilateral meetings with counterparts from member states and partners, according to a press release from the institution.
The Finance Minister's agenda includes for Monday, February 16, 2026: bilateral meeting with Canadian Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne; Eurogroup meeting in inclusive format (EG+) - meeting of finance ministers from the euro area (the inclusive format allows for the participation of EU states outside the euro area, including Romania, for economic coordination); bilateral meeting with the Finance Minister of Slovakia, Ladislav Kamenicky.
For Tuesday, February 17, 2026, the agenda includes the meeting of the European People's Party (EPP) Group - the main European center-right political group (participation on the coordination of European political positions), the bilateral meeting with the Czech Minister of Finance, Alena Schillerova, the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN), the bilateral meeting with the German Minister of Finance, Lars Klingbeil, the bilateral meeting with the Maltese Minister of Finance, Clyde Caruana.
Among the main topics on the ECOFIN agenda is the package of measures to supplement public pensions, part of the Strategy for the Savings and Investment Union (SIU). This is a European Union initiative to mobilize private savings and develop capital markets, and Romania participates in these policies to strengthen financial systems and investments.
Finance ministers will also discuss the revision of the framework applicable to institutions on the occupational pensions market and the Pan-European Personal Pensions Product.
"Romania supports transparency, comparability of information and stronger links with national pension tracking systems," the statement said.
Another item on the agenda aims to address global imbalances in the context of the EU's relations with actors such as the United States and China.
"Regarding the debate on global imbalances within the Eurogroup+ meeting, Romania supports the continuous dialogue with the US, China and other actors in the G20 / G7 format (international formats for global economic coordination in which the EU participates; Romania contributes indirectly through its membership of the EU), and strengthening the EU's competitiveness and addressing global imbalances are interconnected," the cited source states.
Another point concerns the hosting of the European Union Customs Agency (EUCA). Thus, among the main priorities of the bilateral meetings of the Minister of Finance, Alexandru Nazare, is Romania's candidacy for hosting the European Union Customs Agency (EUCA - the future central customs authority of the EU, created to coordinate European customs policies; Romania is applying to host its headquarters, which would strengthen the country's role in managing the EU's external borders).
The customs reform package aims to modernise and strengthen the functioning of the Customs Union by introducing a new EU-wide customs authority, improving risk management, improving the use of data and a more coherent approach to trade facilitation. For Romania, these developments involve both strengthening customs surveillance and control capacity, as well as increasing efficiency in combating fraud, facilitating legitimate trade and faster integration into the future digital architecture of European customs.
Other topics on the ECOFIN agenda are: adoption of the recommendation to grant discharge to the European Commission for the implementation of the EU budget for the financial year 2024; adoption of the amended recovery and resilience plan of Lithuania; approval of the recommendation for the economic policy of the euro area; adoption of the Council recommendation allowing for a deviation from the maximum rates of net expenditure growth in the case of Austria; economic and financial impact of Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
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