The Eurogroup meeting held on 1 of March reached an agreement to authorise the provision by EFSF of a buy-back scheme for the eligibility of marketable instruments issued or guaranteed by the Greek Government. In addition, Herman Van Rompuy has been re-elected as president of the European Council and as president of the Euro Summits. On the other hand, the European Council granted the EU status of candidate country to Serbia.

The Eurogroup welcomed that Greece adopted the required legislation and a few pending implementing acts will be completed shortly. In addition, in view of the completion of the relevant national procedures in Members States, Ministers authorise the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to implement the Eurosystem collateral enhancement facility, in order to build a buy-back scheme for the eligibility of marketable instruments issued or guaranteed by the Greek Government for use as collateral in Eurosystem monetary policy operations. Recently, the ECB announced the temporally suspension of the eligibility of Greek bonds for such use.

In addition, among the economic measures discussed, Ministers also agreed on a backstop facility for the recapitalisation of Greek banks in case of financial stability concerns. Ministers also authorise the issuance by EFSF of bonds to finance the euro area's contribution to the PSI exercise and the repayment of accrued interest on Greek government bonds. On the other hand, Herman Van Rompuy has been re-elected president for a second term of two and a half years by the European Council. Mr Van Rompuy was also designated as president of the Euro Summit for the same term of office. He is the first full-time president of the European Council, following the creation of the post on 1 December 2009 under the Treaty of Lisbon.

The European Council has also granted the EU candidate status to Serbia as it was already foreseen following the recommendation issued by Foreign Ministers in February. It endorsed the Council's conclusions, which confirmed that Serbia has continued to show credible commitment and achieved further progress in the implementation of agreements, especially the dialogue with Kosovo.