The officials from the 19 countries in the so-called eurozone met one day before a more formal gathering of all European Union finance ministers to coordinate the currency area's fiscal policy. In their informal meeting, the Eurogroup ministers committed to sustaining the high levels of fiscal support governments are giving to their economies.
"One year after the COVID-19 outbreak, I think it was a good moment to discuss and take stock of the impact of the pandemic on the different sectors of our economies," Paolo Gentiloni, the European commissioner for the economy and taxation, told journalists in a post-meeting virtual news conference. He referred to the respiratory disease caused by the virus.
This kind of evaluation will continue into the future, according to a statement issued after the meeting.
"Continued strong coordination of supportive fiscal policy in the euro area remains critical to ensure our economies move into a sustained recovery phase," the statement said.
European countries, along with the rest of the world, have responded to the economic crisis caused by the pandemic by employing substantial tax breaks and direct subsidies. The eurozone group intends to continue this strategy for as long as is necessary to prevent economic long-term scarring, the statement said.
"We are united in our approach that until the health crisis is over and recovery is firmly underway, we will continue to protect our economy through the deployment of the necessary level of fiscal support," the document said.
The finance ministers' approach is much different from one taken in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The deep cuts that were made to government spending at the height of the economic chaos have been blamed for worsening the subsequent recession in Europe.
"Pulling back too quickly would be a policy mistake, and there is a growing consensus within Europe and internationally on this," Gentiloni said. "We will not repeat the mistake of the last crisis."
The eurozone group's intention is to address public debt levels once the economy is in recovery, according to the statement.
"Once the recovery is firmly under way, euro area [countries] should address the increased public debt levels by implementing sustainable medium-term fiscal strategies, with an emphasis on improving the quality of public finances, raising investment levels," the statement said.
More immediately, countries "will ensure that [fiscal measures] continue to be timely, they continue to be temporary, they continue to be targeted," Paschal Donohoe, the Irish finance minister, told journalists following the meeting.
The 19 eurozone countries are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
--Editing by Neil Cohen.
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