"It is good news, obviously, that Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, when confirmed by the European Parliament, can have this portfolio,” he said, adding “we will certainly work together to achieve a very ambitious instrument for the euro area.”

The president of the informal forum of eurozone finance ministers commented on the fact that the president-elect of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, had given the commissioner designated by Portugal the portfolio of Cohesion and Reforms, one of her missions being to implement the future budgetary instrument for competitiveness and convergence in the eurozone.

On the agenda of Friday’s meeting of the Eurogroup, in the 'inclusive' format (extended to member states that are not part of the euro area), there is precisely a new discussion on the budgetary instrument, to finalise aspects still open around the proposal to be presented to the European Council in October, but Centeno noted that this is a work that will certainly continue, so will have the opportunity to work on the development of this budgetary capacity together with Elisa Ferreira, who should take office on 1 November.

On 14 June last in Luxembourg, finance ministers agreed on the main lines of a budget for the eurozone but left open key issues such as its size and financing.

A week later, at a Euro Summit in Brussels, heads of state and government welcomed the progress made in the Eurogroup on strengthening the Economic and Monetary Union, but urged finance ministers to conclude the work with some speed, so that a global compromise can be 'closed' this year.

Specifically, on the budgetary instrument, leaders asked the Eurogroup to report quickly on appropriate solutions for financing, pointing out that these elements should be agreed as a matter of priority so that the size of the budgetary instrument can be defined in the context of the next multiannual financial framework (2021-2027).