HELSINKI – On the second day of the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Economic and Financial Affairs (Ecofin), Sep. 14, the ministers discussed energy taxation and also EU fiscal rules.

 The meeting was chaired by Finland’s Minister of Finance Mika Lintilä.

 On the first day of their meeting, the EU member states’ finance ministers had discussed how action on climate change could be taken forward within their sphere of responsibilities. On the second day of the meeting, the discussion on climate action continued when ministers discussed energy taxation. The European Commission has just published its evaluation of the Energy Taxation Directive.

 The main themes that emerged in the discussions were competitiveness, climate change mitigation and the extent to which energy taxation is generally socially acceptable.

 “We all agreed that energy taxation can be used to further the achievement of climate and energy objectives. I’m confident the outcome of our discussion will be taken into account if the decision is made to revise the Energy Taxation Directive,” Minister Lintilä said.

 During its Presidency of the Council, Finland is stressing the need for the EU to raise its profile as a global leader in climate action. The aim is to establish a long-term climate strategy for the EU that will enable it to become carbon neutral by 2050.

 The new Italian Minister of Economy and Finance, Roberto Gualtieri, announced, during the Ecofin business lunch dedicated to strengthening climate action, Italy's adhesion to the Coalition of Financial Ministers for Combating Climate Change, thus changing the position of Italy, which until now had chosen not to participate in the initiative.

 "With this decision we intend to strengthen our commitment to a greener economy and society at national, European and global level," Gualtieri said.

 Created in 2018, the Coalition currently consists of 40 countries, almost all Europeans, as well as North and South American, Asian and African. The battle for environmental sustainability, essential to counteract climate change, can generate investments of $26 trillion between now and 2030 and create 65 million new jobs.

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